11.10.2010

Frans Masereel, xilografia flamenca

Frans Masereel (July 31, 1889 - January 3, 1972) was a Flemish painter and is considered one of the greatest woodcut artists of the twentieth century. He was educated by the Ghent painter Jean Delvin at the Ghent Academy of Fine Art. He settled in France in 1910, then moved to Switzerland in 1914 then in 1921 to Paris and later Berlin where his closest creative friend was George Grosz. After World War II, Masereel lived in Avignon and Nice, France. His greatest work is generally said to be the wordless graphic novel Mon Livre d'Heures (Passionate Journey). He completed over 20 other wordless novels in his career. His work has strongly influenced the work of Clifford Harper as well as Eric Drooker and Lynd Ward.
There is now a Frans Masereel Centre (Frans Masereel Centrum for Graphix) in the small village of Kasterlee in Belgium.



http://www.graphicwitness.org/historic/fm.htm