 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2021) |
Elza Severin | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 21, 1913 |
| Died | May 18, 1988 (aged 74) |
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Education | Royal academy of Arts in Antwerp, Belgium Higher institute for fine arts Antwerp |
| Known for | Graphic design Wood engraving Illustrator Interior design Cartoonist |
| Spouse(s) | Renaat Braem |
| Parent(s) |
|
Elza Severin (21 May 1913 - 18 May 1988) was a Belgian artist.
Severin was born on 21 May 1913 in Kalmthout, Belgium. Her father, Juliaan Severin, was a painter and graphic designer. She was surrounded by art and the visual world and so she easily made her way into the art sector. Her father was a teacher and home schooled her and her sister. [1] The homeschooling was in the educational vision of Ovide Decroly, a Belgian doctor, pedagogue, and psychologist who developed a revolutionary education system that assumes that every child is unique, and that a school or teacher had to adapt to the child, and not the other way around. From this artistic and alternative family background, the step into the artistic was easily taken.
In highschool she went to Royal academy of Arts in Antwerp, Belgium and studied painting. Later she went to the higher institute for fine arts Antwerp. Eduard Pellens was her teacher in the woodcutting atelier and Henri van Straeten & Joris Minne were her teachers in the graphic design department. Van Straeten & Minne together with Frans Masereel, Jan-Frans Cantré, Jozef Cantré founded The Five (Les Cinq), a group of graphic artists who renewed Flemish woodcarving. The work of Van Straeten had an unmistakable influence on the style of Elza Severin’s work. It’s characterised by the urban modern life of the interwar period.
In 1929 she met Renaat Braem in the Academy. They both were members of the Joe English Gilde, a Flemish-humanist-oriented association consisting of art and architectural students. Bream founded it a year earlier. They held debate evenings, lectures and exhibitions. In October 1936 she married Renaat Bream. Elza accompanied him on the study trips abroad to Paris, Bologna, Florence, Rome and Venice.
In the epiloog of the biography of her husband “Het schoonste land ter wereld”, Severin wrote with her sense of humor “It must have become clear that I live here with a versatile genius, with his good and less good gifts. But how annoying the world would be if everyone was perfect and always took themselves seriously.” With the epilogue she gives a nice insight into the relationship between her and her husband. [2]
In 1941 Elza and Renaat accompanied and joined the resistance movement. Therefore Elza Severin designed cartoons for the anti-nazipropaganda. After the war she officially was recognised as a 'fighter by the clandestine press'. Her cartoons were signed with the pseudonym ‘SUS’.
While studying she worked as a designer and illustrator for various publishers such as Varior, L. Opdebeek, Regenboog, De Vlijt and Van In. She designed Illustration and book covers for children books. Elza was gifted for the use of typography. The children’s magazine Zonneland, and Vlaamse Filmpjes are examples she made several illustrations for.
Elza Severin was an independed graphic designer from around 1930 till 1940. She made illustrations for children and youth books, letterheads, occasional printing, posters, advertising and a lot of ex libris. Elza signed her work often with ‘Els Everin’ or ‘Els’.
The design for the commercial expenses formally differ greatly from the expressionist woodcuts that she performed as a free work. Her woodcarvings are often signed with the monogram ‘ES’. Elza, as a graphic design artist, she tried to make her name in the art world and from 1933 till 1938 she took part in exhibitions for it. Some of them were group exhibitions but she also had solo exhibitions. In the Sint-Nicolaasplaats she once had an exhibition together with her father. Juliaan Severin was a secretary of the art circle AKOS and he arranged the exhibition place in de Sint-Nikolaasplaats. In 1933 she was selected for an international exhibition for woodcuts in Warsaw and Kraków.
From 1940 she was more and more involved in the business of her husband Renaat Bream. She did the administration of his architectural firm, but helped as well with the design of the interiour of the buildings and the decorative elements of the projects. She designed several sculptures, tiles, tapestries, and pillows for the interior.
In the youth hostel ’t pannekoekhuis in Nijlen, 1950, she designed a mural. In the rectorat of the Free University of Brussels (VUB), 1976-1980, she also designed and placed a mural. This last one she needed to perform it herself because of the lack of budget. Elza collected all of her journals and notes of herself. [3]
In 1950 Renaat Bream designed their house called “Huis Braem-Severin”. Elza Severin helped with the interior design. It is located in Deurne, Antwerp, Menegemlei 23. [4] The house can now be visited as a museum. There you find a collection of letters and wood blocks, and plaster figurines of Elza. The exterior and interior are based on the natural ratio of the golden ratio. The style of the building belongs to the modernist architecture movement. The work of Elza Severin also belongs to the modernist movement. When they bought their house Renaat was thinking about the aesthetics and Elza was thinking about practical things. “Does this window have to go open or not? Should it better be a sliding door?” she wrote in the epilogue of the biography of her husband “Het schoonste land ter wereld”.
1930s
Frans Masereel was a Flemish painter and graphic artist who worked mainly in France, known especially for his woodcuts 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.
Antwerpen-Centraal is the main train station in the Belgian city of Antwerp. The station is operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS).
Renaat Braem was a leading Belgian architect and urban planner in the latter half of the twentieth century.
Kerkom-bij-Sint-Truiden is a village in the Sint-Truiden municipality of the Limburg province in the Flemish Community of Belgium. Kerkom-bij-Sint-Truiden was an independent municipality until 1970 when it merged with Borlo. In 1976, the village opted to become part of Sint-Truiden.
Brabantine Gothic, occasionally called Brabantian Gothic, is a significant variant of Gothic architecture that is typical for the Low Countries. It surfaced in the first half of the 14th century at St. Rumbold's Cathedral in the City of Mechelen.
Martha Van Coppenolle was a Flemish Belgian artist and book illustrator. She was cited by the 'Letterenhuis - Museum' to be one of the most prolific and influential of all Flemish illustrators. She created pen and ink drawings for over 40 novels and children's books, particularly during the period between 1930 and 1960 within the Flemish region. Her early work leaned strongly towards the Russian Avant-Garde Movement, although she would equally be at ease, creating very colourful and detailed fairy tale illustrative motifs, for certain nursery rhymes when needed. Aside from illustrating, she was equally involved in creating graphic design, ceramic sculptures, oil paintings and furniture design concepts. In the later stages of her life, she gained international recognition as a stained glass artist.
Middelheim Open Air Sculpture Museum is a sculpture park of 30 acres in the park part of the Middelheim Nachtegalen Park at Antwerp. The Middelheim Museum collection has approximately 400 works of art on display. These include around 215 sculptures, featuring artists such as Carl Andre, Franz West, Auguste Rodin and many more. Along with the addition of new works every year, the museum invites contemporary artists to engage in an artistic conversation with works part of the permanent collection and the environment surrounding them, leading to the establishment of performances and exhibitions and by various kinds of artists. Works such as ones by Roman Signer and Ai Weiwei are also created specifically for the museum.
Brussels Congress is a train stop on the North–South connection in the city of Brussels, Belgium. It is located on Boulevard Pacheco/Pachecolaan. Opened in 1952, it served as a train station for 50 years. In 2002, the ticket offices closed and it was downgraded to a train stop. With only few passengers a day using Brussels Congress, plans were being made to close it completely. However, up to now, none has been executed.
Hugo Puttaert is a graphic designer, organizer, teacher and editor based in the greater Brussels area, Belgium.
Sport is an underground station in the Antwerp premetro network. The station was opened on April 1, 1996 as the last station on the northern premetro axis. At present, the station is served by tram routes 2, 3 and 6. Tram route 5 also passes through the northern premetro axis, but leaves the premetro tunnel via the Ten Eekhovelei exit between Schijnpoort and Sport. It does not stop at the Sport station, but has a stop called "Sportpaleis" at the Ten Eekhovelei.
CornilCacheux was a French pipe organ maker.
Tine Van Aerschot is a Belgian graphic designer, dramatic adviser, writer and theatre director.
Evi Greta Roberta Hanssen is a Flemish singer and presenter.
Jozef Cantré was a Belgian sculptor and illustrator. He was one of the main artists in the development of the Flemish Expressionism style.
Ann Van Sevenant is a Belgian philosopher.
Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst was a Dutch painter, draftsman, lithographer, book cover designer, etcher and writer. Many of his works were in a modified Symbolist style.
Nicole Van Goethem was a Belgian animator and illustrator. She wrote and directed A Greek Tragedy, winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1987.
Frans Smet-Verhas, born Frans Smet, was a Belgian architect. He was one of the principal designers to employ Art Nouveau in Antwerp at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Hubrecht (Huib) Hoste was a Belgian architect, designer and urban planner. He is considered the pioneer of modern architecture in Belgium.
Annelys de Vet is a designer, educator and researcher. She runs her own design practice under the name DEVET. From 2009 until 2019 she headed the MA in Design ‘Think tank for Visual strategies’ at the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam, the master's course of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie. There she initiated the temporary masters course Disarming Design, from 2020 until 2022.
