Han Mulder

Johanna (Anna, Han) Mulder

(b. the Hague, 1935 - )

Dutch graphic artist.

Recently I was given this print as a present by my old friend Bauke "that was more befitting to my rather then his collection". And do I love it.  

There's absolutely nothing I can find other then the artist's birthday and place (the Hague, 16th oktober 1935) and her involvement with Dutch artist Gaby Bovelander (b.1931) and that she may have lived (and worked ?) in Apeldoorn and/or Arnhem in the late 1960's. That's all. 

There're two things that makes it both charming and interesting: A) The goat itself, immediately reminding of the most famous of all Dutch "poor men's cows" of them all. By short lived but brilliant painter and printmaker Jan Mankes (1889-1920). He did both a painting and a woodblock print of his goat. And Arie Zonneveld  (1905-1941) did a great lam.

I have no intention try showing all goats on prints here. But there's a tradition of goats on prints from Nicholas Berchem (1620-1683) to William Nicholson (1872-1949)

And only recently I discovered the wonderful animal world of Kurt Meyer-Eberhard (1895-1977). 

Who, I learned, happened to be a student of Walter Klemm (1883-1857). He preferred a lifelong private career as an etcher of animals over a professorate.

And I stumbled over this most charming Dutch "one off" by Gra (Gerharda Johanna Wilhelmina) Rueb (1885-1972). She did only one in this medium and I think she was familiar with the works of Samuel Jesserun de Mesquita, Mr. Artis Zoo, whom I presented earlier in this Blog. 
     

And there's B) the second feature of this little print. It's the brilliant and clever positioning of the outline or suggestion of buildings at the upper most margins of the composition thus creating a "dramatic" change in perspective and great suggestion of depth. With just a bit of gray paint. I've seen it applied in several other works, like this woodcut by Rudolf Treumann (1873-1981) above.

But applied most spectacularly I remembered it in this great print "the timber Crane" by Australian Ethel Spowers (1890-1947). It's that little triangle of light , the few centimeters of roof tops in the upper right corner that changes the way the brain digests what the eyes began exploring. Glancing over the scene from lower left upwards. Because the black mass and direction of the crane's boom are working as an forceful invitation to "start over here". Enhancing a feeling of enormity even more dramatically as the already chosen very low viewpoint not "allowing" the whole crane in the composition: there's no need to show the whole of the huge crane because of this great "trick". A truly spectacular work.  

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I've seen it also in a prints of River Seine in Paris but wasn't able to dig them up from my pictures archive because I didn't label them accurately enough as such. When I find them I will, but maybe there'll be help from readers who know more examples. 

All pictures borrowed freely from the Internet for friendly, educational and non commercial use only.               

   

Henriette Hahn-Brinckmann, I wonder ...

Henriette Christine Hahn-Brinckmann

(1862-1934)

Danish/German painter and pioneer printmaker.

Exhibited in Germany 1898 and 1901.

(This supposedly portrait of Henriette appeared actually to represent her sister: Henrikka Møller-Hahn. See the comment of sept. 14th 2015) 

Two days ago I read expert Charles' recent posting in Modern Printmakers dealing with an early (1912) William Giles' (1872-1939) print and it left me wondering if Giles' orange sun disk may have been inspired inspired by a print by Henriete Hahn created a decade earlier in 1898.  She was then already known for her innovative floral designs combined with woodblock printing a few years earlier. I understand Giles visited Germany in the early 1900's because I know of his series of 1905 prints depicting the city of Quedlinburg, its castle and surroundings. 

Henriette was born in Kopenhagen in 1862 as the daughter of the sailing-ships captain Christian Hahn and Caroline Nielsen. She attended the Arts and Crafts school in Kopenhagen and was appointed teacher there and later acquired a position at the famous Arts and Craft School for Girls in Hamburg (Kunstgewerbeschule). She left for Paris to work and study in 1892 when Hamburg schools closed because of the outbreak of cholera.  

"Passionsblumen": 1897

She was later to become the third wife of founder and first  director Justus Brinckmann (1843-1915) of the Kunstgewerbe Museum. Earlier she created woodblock print illustrations for his book on Japanese pottery. Brinckmann's fascination for Japanese prints lead to exhibitions in Hamburg as early as 1896. He must have been fascinated by Henriette in person too because returning from Paris she presented him their (illegitimate) daughter in 1893, later marrying him and giving him another 3 children (read Brinckmann's interesting biography here*). During her marriage she was not allowed to be professionally publicly active by her husband, forcing her to continue her artistic career after his death in 1915. 

"Abenstimmung": 1904

Her innovative print "Schwanenwiek" shows a very Art-Deco flock of swans in the "Außer Alster" in Hamburg (Schwanenwik is the name of the Park) and is a purely Impressionist composition of the sun, its light and it's reflections. The swans' differences in perspective and volumes are very un-Japanese. It was printed probably from 6 blocks with watercolor paint, without a key block and with "flowing" colors. The leafless tree and trelliswork on the other hand are very Japanese elements. The orange sun and its reflections could inspired by Claude Monet's 1872 painting.

The vertical dimension of this large print (of an edition of 50 pulled) to emphasize this was meant to be an independent work of art and not an illustration. The print was widely praised and discussed at the time. 

Although Charles' posting was the reason for this posting this is a good opportunity to show some more examples of Hahn innovative works. By birth she is the (almost*) oldest(**) of the first generation of German (Nordic) women working with woodblock printmaking born 1860-1900 and working in Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden and Munich. 

(*) See also the discovery and research on Danish/German printmaker Emma Maier (Meier) (1859-1921) who also worked and teached in the Kunstgewerbe Schule in Hamburg.  

(**) printmaker Eleonore Doelter was born 1855 but only later in life became involved in printmaking.

Information on "Schwanenwiek": Birgit Ahrens in "Wege zur Gabrielle Munter und Käthe Kolwitz, 2013.

All pictures are mouse-clickable to embiggen and borrowed freely from the Internet for friendly, educational and non commercial use only.    

            

Millicent Krouse

Millicent Krouse

(1933-  )

American watercolor painter and printmaker. 

Twice this week I stumbled upon prints by this contemporary printmaker in Ebay. Since the most interesting one (I love the long vase) is only sold in the lower United States these offers of very nice and aesthetic and affordable 1950-60 prints may be an opportunity for a reader of this Blog.

Millicent Krouse was aworded a scholarship in Pensylvania Academy of Fine Arts and I combed the Internet for more examples of her work. 

She was a student of artist and art teacher Morris Atkinson Blackburn (1902-1979) who I also looked up and was very pleased to have met him because of the interesting abstract prints and great use of colors. 

Works by Blackburn can be found also in Ebay. This picture probably found here: http://www.dolanmaxwell.com/artists/blackburn/ were more works can be found. 

All pictures borrowed from the internet for friendly, educational and non-commercial use only.  

Pieter Willem Bijvoet

Pieter Willem Bijvoet

(1903-1941)

obscured and forgotten Dutch graphic artist.  

To be honest: until last week my computer archive contained just one picture of a woodblock print found in the www. by this artist but otherwise I had never heard of him. Until in a local auction this woodblock print of a pair of budgies (Budgerigar, Melopsittacus Undulatus) showed up recently and made me to  investigate the artist. 

Pieter Willem Bijvoet studied in the Royal Academy in Amsterdam but other then some genealogical data and some lithographic drawings and the three woodcut prints shown here, he's left hardly any footsteps in printmakers  history. He was born in Overveen (near Haarlem) and died in Amsterdam.

My first association with his budgie print design was this famous woodcut print (above) from Vienna by Karl Schmidt Rotluff (1884-1976). Because the colors are block printed too, and not colored by hand, it's a charming print although not an Hélène Isenbart (very obscured German printmaker),

an Otto Lange (Germ. 1879-1944) or let alone a Kay Nixon (Br. 1895-1988) Europeans artists who also were inspired by a budgie couple.

Bijvoet's print of the smallest of Herons (Bittern, Ixobrychus Minutes) instead of the easy and more popular choice of a Silver Heron by most of his colleagues and contemporaries is remarkable. Like the choice of ordinary Tradescantia in the Gingerjar instead of far more popular and usual Nasturtiums. The fact he died young and probably had a not very prolific but delicate output of works will have contributed to his being forgotten and hardly known in our times.

   

I'm convinced  there must be more examples of his work and all additions send by readers will be very welcomed.

All pictures are mouse clickable to embiggen.

All pictures borrowed freely from the Internet for educational and non-commercial use only. 

Wonderful girls

Wonderful girls.   

I ended up last posting with two glorious girls in bright sunlight and being in a state of "in between two postings" here are two more beauties to share and enjoy. With some mysterious but fabulous backlighting.

Next: Pieter Willem Bijvoet (1903-1941), obscured and forgotten Dutch painter and print maker. 

Milking the days

Henri Gabriël Ibels

(1867-1936)

French painter, illustrator, 
poster and printmaker.

(left: portrait by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec)

was one of the first French artists to embrace and integrate the Japanese art and style of printmaking with his friend Count Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901). In the last decade of the 19th century. Ibels attended the Académie Julian in Paris meeting Pierre Bonnard en Eduard Vuillard and founding the group called les Nabis (the profets). Googling these artists and "Nabis" will definitely enlighten your day. Much has been published and written.

I stumbled over Ibels' lithographic drawing of a kissing peasant couple some  time ago and was immediately taken in by its great charm. And by it's warmth, simplicity, originality and its roots deep into Flemish history and tradition. All the way back to the 16th century Flemish Brueghel family (Pieter de Younger and his father Pieter the Elder)  

Looking at Ibels' designs the simple outlines of his figures making him a very recognizable artist. Hanging out in the many theaters, circus and bars of Paris with his close friend drawing many of the same scenes Toulouse Lautrec gained his to this day worldwide success and fame with. The inspiration for the kissing peasant couple probably came from this theatrical Pierrot scene Ibels used as an exclusive book illustration in 1895.

      In this journal cover the dramatic silence and compassion is tangible,  soldiers lead by an officer passing by on their way to certain death. "l'Escarmouche" or a small group of soldiers was send to the front to test enemy vigilance, common practice and tactics euphemistically called "a skirmish". Few ever returned. 

Some examples of Ibels' many brilliant designs and compositions but unlike Toulouse-Lautrec he never achieved the glorious status of his friend. 
      

 Left Ibels, right Toulouse-Lautrec

Very Flemish writer Felix Timmermans (1886-1947) wrote the very Flemish novel about Pallieter (publ. 1916), the life long role model of my late father in law. The immortal simpleton who falls in love with the daughter of his housekeeper, marries her and is rewarded triplet girls (the author fathered three girls). It is a glorious  account of one year in the Flemish countryside, enjoying, embracing, dancing and soaking up all simple and free earthly pleasures, the seasons, the warmth and the cold, the clouds and the landscape, the birds, sounds, smells, tastes ......... Reading this wonderful classic novel, will change you for ever, I promise. It's a tribute, a celebration and a hymn to nature and our short stay on planet Earth.

Timmermans created the word for it only known in Flemish and to those who've read the book: Dagmelker. Pallieter, the day milker. Enjoying the simple pleasures from every day life, the way you extract milk from a cow. It takes some time, some effort and willpower and some skill but being aware they are there ready to enjoy for we who knows how to milk the day is the message. Pallieter was cast in bronze in 1986 by Jan Alphons Keustermans (1940-) and he stands in Lierse, Timmerman's and Pallieters' hometown. 

And from the back of my mind these sculptures by Israeli artist Rony Ben-Nachum surfaced. I wonder if he knew the posters of Ibels or maybe read Timmermans' novel. 

       

I have no idea about the lifes of Pallieter and the love of his life Marieken or the triplets after that year in the country but Im confident they all lived happy and simple lives. I can't help thinking I've even seen a picture of Marieken later in life. Living in dairy country I enjoy collecting vintage images (photographs, paintings) of hand milking girls and farmers.

Marieken ?