Otto Nückel (

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, 6 September 1888 – Cologne, 12 November 1955) was a German painter, graphic designer, illustrator and cartoonist. He is best known as one of the 20th century's pioneer

wordless novel The wordless novel is a narrative genre that uses sequences of captionless pictures to tell a story. As artists have often made such books using woodcut and other relief printing techniques, the terms woodcut novel or novel in woodcuts are a ...

ists, along with

Frans Masereel Frans Masereel (31 July 1889 – 3 January 1972) was a Belgium, Belgian painter and graphic artist who worked mainly in France. He is known especially for his woodcuts which focused on political and social issues, such as war and capitalism. He ...

and

Lynd Ward Lynd Kendall Ward (June 26, 1905 – June 28, 1985) was an American artist and novelist, known for his series of wordless novels using wood engraving, and his illustrations for juvenile and adult books. His wordless novels have influenced ...

Life

Nückel, who had exhibited skill as an artist in his childhood, dropped out of medical school in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

and moved to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

where he resided for the remainder of his life. There he developed his skill in drawing and painting, joining the artists' association, the Munich Sezession, and developing an interest in

relief printing Relief printing is a family of printing methods where a printing block, plate or matrix (printing), matrix, which has had ink applied to its non-recessed surface, is brought into contact with paper. The non-recessed surface will leave ink on th ...

. Because of the scarcity of wood, Nückel made

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...

s for relief prints on

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

plates. A pioneer in lead engraving, Nückel developed an accomplished mastery of this medium, distinguished by ample use of the multiple-line tool. He illustrated works by

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

, E. T. A. Hoffmann and others before garnering considerable attention with his own publication ''Schicksal. Eine Geschicte in Bildern.'' Munich: Delphin Verlag, 1926(?). Later published in English as '' Destiny: A story in pictures''. 1930 London: Albert E. Marriott/1930 New York, Farrar & Rinehart. This wordless novel highlights the life and suffering of a female protagonist as a vehicle for a dark social critique. Much of Nückel's work favors dark comedy, profound irony and an often scathing sarcasm. Nückel's series of "Studio Visits" (''Atelierbesuche'') to studios from Ensor to Bosch were famous. Nückel earned his living as an

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

and

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

. He was a contributor to the

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

magazines ''

Simplicissimus :''Simplicissimus is also a name for the 1668 novel ''Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus, Simplicius Simplicissimus'' and its protagonist.'' ''Simplicissimus'' () was a German language, German weekly satire, satirical magazine, founded by Albert ...

'' and ''Simpl'', fantasy magazine '' Der Orchideengarten'', and to children's periodical ''Ping-Pong''. New editions of ''Destiny'' have been published in the US by Dover and in France under the title 'Destin' in 2005 (Éditions IMHO, Paris) and in 2021 (Éditions Ici-bas, Toulouse).

Work

As illustrator

Nückel provided illustrations for these books, among others: * A. M. Frey, ''Solneman der Unsichtbare'' (woodcuts), Delphin Verlag, München, 1914 * A. M. Frey, ''Spuk des Alltags'' (woodcuts), Delphin Verlag, München, 1920 * Thomas Mann, ''Der kleine Herr Friedemann'' (woodcuts), Phantasus-Verlag, München, 1920 * Clemens Brentano, ''Das Märchen vom Schulmeister Klopfstock'' (wood engravings), Freitag-Verlag, München. 1947 * Stefan Andres, ''Vom heiligen Pfäfflein Domenico'' (wood engravings), Paul List Verlag, München, 1966

As author/illustrator

* Otto Nückel. Eine Würdigung von Willy Seidel. München 1930

Wordless Novels

* ''Schicksal: eine Geschichte in Bildern''. Delphin-Verlag, München, 1920s * ''Destiny: A Novel in Pictures''. Farrar & Rinehart Inc New York, 19301930 Destiny
a bibliographic listing for Destiny * ''Destiny: A Novel in Pictures''. Albert E Marriott, London, 1930 * ''Schicksal: eine Geschichte in Bildern''. Limmat Verlag Genossenschaft: Zürich, 1985 * ''Destin''. Paris: IMHO, 2005 * ''Destiny: A Novel in Pictures''. New York: Dover Publications, 2007. * ''Destin''. Éditions Ici-bas, Toulouse 2021

Exhibitions

* Lenbachhaus, München 1956 * Berufsverband bildender Künstler, München 1965 * EP Galerie, Düsseldorf 2005

References

External links

Otto Nückel in the German National Library catalogue
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuckel, Otto German editorial cartoonists German satirists German fantasy artists German graphic novelists 20th-century German illustrators 20th-century German engravers German printmakers German graphic designers 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German comics artists 1888 births 1955 deaths 20th-century German novelists Wordless novels