opc_loader

Menu

Kunstenaar Frans Masereel houtsnedes koppen

Masereel Frans

Frans Masereel was a Belgian artist born in 1889 in Blankenberge and died in 1972 in Avignon/France. He was a wood engraver, painter, draftsman and illustrator. Education at the Academy in Ghent. Became friends with J. De Bruycker and J. Cantré. Settled in Paris in 1911 and fled to Switzerland as a militant pacifist. Visited Russia in 1935, 1936 and 1956 and China in 1958. He excelled as a draftsman, but the scope and strength of his oeuvre as a xylograph overshadows the versatility of his languages. From the press: “His first woodcuts were charges against the violence that engulfed the world, protests against the oppression of the little man by political, economic and financial superpowers, appeals for peace and social justice, sensitive expressions of joy and love as well. He portrayed those feelings in concise compositions with powerful black and white contrasts, in which a lively realism is accompanied by penetrating expressionist accents ”. Often his series of woodcuts were released in album form such as La Ville, L'Oeuvre, La Sirène, eg. He also designed bas-reliefs, ceramic vases, mosaics, sets, costumes and painted when he lived in Avignon and Nice during the Second World War, various portraits. Was a teacher at the Institute of Decorative Arts in Saarbrücken from 1947 to 1951. Work among others in the Print Cabinets in Antwerp and Brussels, in the Museums in Ghent and Liège. Mentioned in the Lexicon of West Flemish visual artists II, BAS I and Two centuries of Belgian artists. (PIRON)