Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman and the Werkmaniana in ... - British Library

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Fig. I. H.N. Werkman, self-portrait 1938, from Lustrum tentoonstelling van schilderijen . . . van leden van 'DePloeg\etc. 1938 7
life brought about what he himself described as a liberation of the spirit and a burst of creativity. He had taken up painting in 1^17, at first under the influence of van Gogh, later that ot Kirchner, until he found a complete style of his own. He was a member of the Groningen artists' association, De Ploeg, through which he exhibited his paintings and for which he printed programmes and catalogues (fig. 3). In an attempt to reach a wider public he designed and published several periodicals, all shortlived, among them the Blad voor kunst of which six issues appeared between October 1921 and March 1922, and The next call of which nine irregular issues preceded by a separate manifesto were sent by him to artists in various countries from 1923 to 1929. They caused hardly any stir, the one important exception being the encouragement he received from Michel Seuphor. Only on very tew occasions did he break out of his physical and artistic isolation. He paid rare visits to Amsterdam: for his first one-man show there in 1939; for an exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum called 'The illustrated page' in which some of his own work was shown in April 1941; and again in May of that year for a private visit to Sandberg who then took him to Castricum where the museum's chief treasures of modern art had been stored for safety. He travelled abroad only once, in 1929, when in the company of his fellow Groningen artist, Jan Wiegers, he saw modern art at Essen, Cologne, and Paris. The experience gained on these journeys filled him with excitement and inspired his own work for long periods, not only in paintings but also in what he called his druksels^ a word impossible to translate, a suffix joined to the word for typographic impression which adds to it a sense of modesty as well as affectionate irony. Perhaps it can best be rendered by 'printlet' rather than by 'booklet'. Some critics deplore the use of this word because of its pejorative tone and prefer to talk of typographic compositions or collages, but these terms are no more adequate to describe either the technique or the result of it. These druksels could be quite independent of any text, or they could complement and enrich words to which they related. The technique used to make them - by means of letter types or other pieces from the type case stamped on to the paper by hand, of impressions of colour from stencils or their addition with the ink-roller held evenly or at varying angles - needed much time in preliminary design work, in proof impressions, and finally in the most careful and laborious execution. The most complex druksels might have needed up to fifty different handlings in and out of the press and allowed no more than one or at the most two or three copies to be made. Larger editions required simpler and fewer processes, but frequently the copies of one such edition, made at the rate of one a day, show considerable variants. No wonder they are considered works of art in their own right and have become very expensive collectors' items. The invasion and occupation of Holland by the Germans in May 1940 and the resulting hardships for the population in general, for the Jews in particular, and for artists and also printers in different ways, caused Werkman a great deal of trouble and anguish. He found an outlet, some relief for his feelings and a positive response to frustration in the work he was asked to do for private and clandestine publishing enterprises. Of these De Blauwe Schuit is deservedly the most famous, but he printed with equal devotion 72
Page 1: HENDRIK NICOLAAS WERKMAN AND THE WE
Page 5 and 6: for In Agris Occupatis and also on
Page 7 and 8: Hrt had dim wlntar toi In Maart Kaj
Page 9 and 10: workshop were ransacked at the time
Page 11 and 12: 1941 * MARTIN LUTHER. Sendbrief an
Page 13 and 14: Written by Vestdijk during internme
Page 15 and 16: 1947 JAN WIEGF.RS. H,N. Werkman. 's
Page 17 and 18: are by F. R. A. Henkels and J. Mart
Page 19: u)75 PAIH. OVKRY. Striking contrast

Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman and the Werkmaniana in ... - British Library

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