25 Images of a Man's Passion

Last updated

The protagonist leads a workers' revolt Die Passion Eines Menschen 22.png
The protagonist leads a workers' revolt

25 Images of a Man's Passion, or The Passion of a Man is the first wordless novel by Flemish artist Frans Masereel (1889–1972), first published in 1918 under the French title 25 images de la passion d'un homme. The silent story is about a young working-class man who leads a revolt against his employer. The first of dozens of such works by Masereel, the book is considered to be the first wordless novel, a genre that saw its greatest popularity in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. Masereel followed the book in 1919 with his best-known work, Passionate Journey .

Contents

Masereel had grown up reading revolutionary socialist literature, and expressed his politics in A Man's Passion; the work is also filled with religious imagery, as with the Common Man taking the role of the martyred Christ. It owed its visual style to Expressionism and mediaeval woodcuts. The book was popular, particularly in German editions, which had introductions by writers Max Brod, Hermann Hesse, and Thomas Mann.

Background

Frans Masereel (1889–1972) [1] was born into a French-speaking family [2] in Blankenberge, Belgium. When he was five his father died, and his mother remarried to a doctor in Ghent, whose political beliefs left an impression on the young Masereel. [1] Masereel grew up reading Marxist, socialist, and anarchist works by such writers as Karl Marx and Peter Kropotkin, [3] and often accompanied his stepfather in socialist demonstrations. After a year at the Ghent Academy of Fine Arts in 1907, Masereel left to study art on his own in Paris. [1] During World War I he volunteered as a translator for the Red Cross in Geneva, drew newspaper political cartoons, and copublished a magazine called Les Tablettes, in which he published his first woodcut prints. [4]

In the early 20th century there was a revival in interest in mediaeval woodcuts, particularly in religious books such as the Biblia pauperum . [5] The woodcut is a less refined medium than the wood engraving that replaced it—artists of the time took to the rougher woodcut to express angst and frustration. [6] From 1917 Masereel began publishing books of woodcut prints, [7] using similar imagery to make political statements on the strife of the common people rather than to illustrate the lives of Christ and the saints. [6] In 1918 he created the first such book to feature a narrative, 25 Images of a Man's Passion, [7] which is thus the earliest example of the wordless novel genre. [8]

Synopsis

25 Images of a Man's Passion tells of a young man who protests injustice against the working class in an industrialized society. The man is born to an unwed mother, struggles to make a living, and drinks and whores with his coworkers. He educates himself by reading and talking with his coworkers, and is executed by the authorities for leading a revolt against his employer. [9]

Style and analysis

The title and content of the book have biblical resonances with the mediaeval woodcuts from which they draw inspiration. In line with Masereel's politics, the Common Man is martyred instead of Christ; [10] during his trial, Christ on the crucifix shines light upon the man. [11] The cover of the German edition depicts the main character burdened Christ-like with a crucifix. [8]

The story parallels that of Ernst Toller's The Transformation. Pictured: a production of The Transformation on 30 September 1919 Fritz Kortner in Die Wandlung 1919.jpg
The story parallels that of Ernst Toller's The Transformation.
Pictured: a production of The Transformation on 30 September 1919

Visually, the book owes much to Expressionism, though experts disagree on whether to label Masereel's work Expressionist; critic Lothar Lang finds Masereel's revolutionary politics to set Masereel apart from the Expressionists. [10] Perry Willet finds parallels between the story arc of Masereel's book and that of Expressionist playwright Ernst Toller's The Transformation [lower-alpha 1] (1919), though Masereel's work was the more political—Toller lacked Masereel's commitment to socialism. [11] Socialist themes of the martyrdom of the working class were common in wordless novels; [11] with the city as a backdrop to a worker's struggle against oppression, the book set the tone and themes for future wordless novels by Masereel and other artists, such as the American Lynd Ward. [3]

Publication and reception

Printed from twenty-five woodcut blocks, the book was first released in 1918 by Édition de Sablier, a Swiss publishing house of which Masereel was a co-sponsor. It was first offered as a numbered collectors' edition, and followed by trade editions. [8] Kurt Wolff produced an inexpensive German edition (Die Passion eines Menschen) in 1921. [9] The German edition was particularly popular, and its several editions had introductions by writers Max Brod, Hermann Hesse, and Thomas Mann. [8] In the same Expressionistic style, Masereel followed Man's Passion with Passionate Journey [lower-alpha 2] (1919), The Sun [lower-alpha 3] (1919), Story Without Words [lower-alpha 4] (1920), and The Idea [lower-alpha 5] (1920). [12]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ German: Die Wandlung
  2. ↑ French: Mon livres d'heures, also known as My Book of Hours
  3. ↑ French: Le soleil
  4. ↑ French: Histoire sans paroles
  5. ↑ French: Idée

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frans Masereel</span> Belgian artist (1889–1972)

Frans Masereel was a 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 completed over 40 wordless novels in his career, and among these, his greatest is generally said to be Passionate Journey.

Eric Drooker is an American painter, graphic novelist, and frequent cover artist for The New Yorker. He conceived and designed the animation for the film Howl (2010).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynd Ward</span> American novelist (1905–1985)

Lynd Kendall Ward 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 the development of the graphic novel. Although strongly associated with his wood engravings, he also worked in watercolor, oil, brush and ink, lithography and mezzotint. Ward was a son of Methodist minister, political organizer and radical social activist Harry F. Ward, the first chairman of the American Civil Liberties Union on its founding in 1920.

<i>Song Without Words</i> 1936 wordless novel by Lynd Ward

Song Without Words: A Book of Engravings on Wood is a wordless novel of 1936 by American artist Lynd Ward (1905–1985). Executed in twenty-one wood engravings, it was the fifth and shortest of the six wordless novels Ward completed, produced while working on the last and longest, Vertigo (1937). The story concerns the anxiety an expectant mother feels over bringing a child into a world under the threat of fascism—anxieties Ward and writer May McNeer were then feeling over McNeer's pregnancy with the couple's second child.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helena Bochořáková-Dittrichová</span> Czech illustrator, graphic novelist and painter

Helena Bochořáková-Dittrichová was a Czech illustrator, graphic novelist, and later a painter. She is widely acknowledged as being the first female graphic novelist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurence Hyde (artist)</span> Canadian artist and filmmaker (1914-1987)

Laurence Evelyn Hyde was an English-born Canadian film maker, painter, and graphic artist, known for his work with the National Film Board of Canada, stamp designs for the Canadian Postal Service, and the wordless novel Southern Cross (1951).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wordless novel</span> Sequences of pictures used to tell a story

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 also used. The genre flourished primarily in the 1920s and 1930s and was most popular in Germany.

<i>Gods Man</i> 1929 wordless novel by Lynd Ward

Gods' Man is a wordless novel by American artist Lynd Ward (1905–1985) published in 1929. In 139 captionless woodblock prints, it tells the Faustian story of an artist who signs away his soul for a magic paintbrush. Gods' Man was the first American wordless novel, and is considered a precursor of the graphic novel, whose development it influenced.

<i>Southern Cross</i> (wordless novel) 1951 novel by Laurence Hyde

Southern Cross is the sole wordless novel by Canadian artist Laurence Hyde (1914–1987). Published in 1951, its 118 wood-engraved images narrate the impact of atomic testing on Pacific islanders. Hyde made the book to express his anger at the US military's nuclear tests in the Bikini Atoll.

<i>Passionate Journey</i> 1919 novel by Frans Masereel

Passionate Journey, or My Book of Hours, is a wordless novel of 1919 by Flemish artist Frans Masereel. The story is told in 167 captionless prints, and is the longest and best-selling of the wordless novels Masereel made. It tells of the experiences of an early 20th-century everyman in a modern city.

<i>The Idea</i> (wordless novel)

The Idea is a 1920 wordless novel by Flemish artist Frans Masereel (1889–1972). In eighty-three woodcut prints, the book tells an allegory of a man's idea, which takes the form of a naked woman who goes out into the world; the authorities try to suppress her nakedness, and execute a man who stands up for her. Her image is spread through the mass media, inciting a disruption of the social order. Filmmaker Berthold Bartosch made an animated adaptation in 1932.

<i>The Idea</i> (1932 film) 1932 film

The Idea is a 1932 French animated film by Austro-Hungarian filmmaker Berthold Bartosch (1893–1968), based on the 1920 wordless novel of the same name by Flemish artist Frans Masereel (1889–1972). The protagonist is a naked woman who represents a thinker's idea; as she goes out into the world, the frightened authorities unsuccessfully try to cover up her nudity. A man who stands up for her is executed, and violent suppression by big business greets a workers' revolution she inspires.

<i>Prelude to a Million Years</i> Wordless novel by Lynd Ward

Prelude to a Million Years: A Book of Wood Engravings is a 1933 wordless novel consisting of thirty wood engravings by American artist Lynd Ward (1905–1985). It was the fourth of Ward's six wordless novels, a genre Ward discovered while studying wood engraving in Europe, and delved into under the influence of the works of Frans Masereel and Otto Nückel. The symbol-rich story tells of a sculptor who, in his quest for ideal beauty, neglects the reality of the struggles of his neighbors in the depths of the Great Depression. The engravings are done in a softer Art Deco style in contrast to the German Expressionism-influenced artwork of Ward's earlier works.

<i>Wild Pilgrimage</i> Wordless novel by Lynd Ward

Wild Pilgrimage is the third wordless novel of American artist Lynd Ward (1905–1985), published in 1932. It was executed in 108 monochromatic wood engravings, printed alternately in black ink when representing reality and orange to represent the protagonist's fantasies. The story tells of a factory worker who abandons his workplace to seek a free life; on his travels he witnesses a lynching, assaults a farmer's wife, educates himself with a hermit, and upon returning to the factory leads an unsuccessful workers' revolt. The protagonist finds himself battling opposing dualities such as freedom versus responsibility, the individual versus society, and love versus death.

<i>Madmans Drum</i> 1930 wordless novel by Lynd Ward

Madman's Drum is a wordless novel by American artist Lynd Ward (1905–1985), published in 1930. It is the second of Ward's six wordless novels. The 118 wood-engraved images of Madman's Drum tell the story of a slave trader who steals a demon-faced drum from an African he murders, and the consequences for him and his family.

<i>Vertigo</i> (wordless novel) 1937 wordless novel by Lynd Ward

Vertigo is a wordless novel by American artist Lynd Ward (1905–1985), published in 1937. In three intertwining parts, the story tells of the effects the Great Depression has on the lives of an elderly industrialist and a young man and woman. Considered his masterpiece, Ward uses the work to express the socialist sympathies of his upbringing; he aimed to present what he called "impersonal social forces" by depicting the individuals whose actions are responsible for those forces.

<i>Destiny</i> (wordless novel) 1926 wordless novel by Otto Nückel

Destiny is the only wordless novel by German artist Otto Nückel. It first appeared in 1926 from the Munich-based publisher Delphin-Verlag. In 190 wordless images the story follows an unnamed woman in a German city in the early 20th century whose life of poverty and misfortune drives her to infanticide, prostitution, and murder.

<i>The Sun</i> (wordless novel) 1919 novel by Frans Masereel

The Sun is a wordless novel by Flemish artist Frans Masereel (1889–1972), published in 1919. In sixty-three uncaptioned woodcut prints, the book is a contemporary retelling of the Greek myth of Icarus.

<i>The City</i> (wordless novel) Book of woodcut prints by Frans Masereel

The City is a 1925 wordless novel by Flemish artist Frans Masereel. In 100 captionless woodcut prints Masereel looks at many facets of life in a big city.

Story Without Words, is a wordless novel of 1920 by Flemish artist Frans Masereel. In 60 captionless woodcut prints the story tells of a man who strives to win the love of a woman.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Beronä 2007, p. v.
  2. ↑ Willett 2005, p. 132.
  3. 1 2 Cohen 1977, p. 182.
  4. ↑ Beronä 2007, p. vi.
  5. ↑ Willett 2005, p. 126.
  6. 1 2 Willett 2005, p. 127.
  7. 1 2 Beronä 2007, pp. vi–vii.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Willett 2005, pp. 112.
  9. 1 2 Beronä 2008, p. 16.
  10. 1 2 Willett 2005, pp. 126–127.
  11. 1 2 3 Willett 2005, pp. 114.
  12. ↑ Willett 2005, p. 118.

Works cited

  • Beronä, David A. (2008). Wordless Books: The Original Graphic Novels. Abrams Books. ISBN   978-0-8109-9469-0.
  • Cohen, Martin S. (April 1977). "The Novel in Woodcuts: A Handbook". Journal of Modern Literature. 6 (2). Indiana University Press: 171–195. JSTOR   3831165.
  • Beronä, David (2007). "Introduction". In Beronä, David (ed.). Frans Masereel: Passionate Journey: A Vision in Woodcuts. Dover Publications. pp. v–ix. ISBN   978-0-486-13920-3.
  • Willett, Perry (2005). "The Cutting Edge of German Expressionism: The Woodcut Novel of Frans Masereel and Its Influences". In Donahue, Neil H. (ed.). A Companion to the Literature of German Expressionism. Camden House. pp. 111–134. ISBN   978-1-57113-175-1.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.