It was actually quite difficult to avoid Wim Crouwels work. In the
1960s the Netherlands was inundated with posters, catalogues, stamps
designed by him, even the telephone book. - Karel Martens
Lucien De Roeck (Dendermonde, 1915-2002) was barely 17 years old when
he subscribed at the belgian institute 'La Cambre'. At La Cambre, where
the emphasis was put on crafts, he learned the basic principles of
typography, graphic design, poster design and branding. During the
first year, pupils were allowed to use only black and white in their
work.
"He was a splendid mix; he had irrepressible natural talent and a
faultless drawing hand; he possessed the lively candour of the eternal
child; he was a true product of the Swiss School; he loved innovatory
research; he boasted a lively curiosity, being quick to latch on - not
without irony - to the most unpredictable ideas, and he worked with the
serious precision of the first-rate professional."
- Giampiero Bosoni
Jacob Jongert, born on June 22, 1883, in a peasant family never managed
to find his place on the farm. Instead he studied applied arts in
Amsterdam.
In 1905 he obtained the necessary certificates to become a drawing
teacher.
Erik Nitsche was born in Lausanne, Switzerland in an art-minded family.
Both his father and grandfather were noted photographers and artists
like Paul Klee were close friends of the family. Klee influenced
Nitsche in his choice to be an artist rather than a photographer.
Despite this close relationship, Nitsche didn't attend the Bauhaus
school where Klee was a teacher. Instead he studied at the
Kunstgewerbeschule in Munich.
"Among these young Americans it seems to be that Paul Rand is one of
the best and most capable [. . .] He is a painter, lecturer, industrial
designer, [and] advertising artist who draws his knowledge and
creativeness from the resources of this country. He is an idealist and
a realist, using the language of the poet and business man. He thinks
in terms of need and function. He is able to analyze his problems but
his fantasy is boundless."
- Lazlo Moholy-Nagy
Jan Theodoor Toorop was born on December 20 in Purworedjo Java,
Indonesia. He was not only a Dutch Impressionist, Symbolist and Art
Nouveau painter, but also an illustrator and graphic designer.
"There is an old and a new consciousness of time.
The old is connected with the individual.
The new is connected with the universal.
The struggle of the individual against the universal is revealing
itself in the world-war as well as in the art of the present day."
- Theo Van Doesburg
"Yes, I'm a decorative artist as well these days. And circumstances
give me so much time for my active interest in decorative art that many
ask with a downcast look: "but you're an architect, aren't you?"
'Wendingen' takes a particularly heavy toll on my architectural work."
- Hendrik Wijdeveld
