PRESS KIT

Press Kit
Contacts
Press Relations
CARACAS RP
Hélène van den Wildenberg
[email protected]
T. +32 (0)4 349 14 41
Gsm +32 (0)495 22 07 92
Juliette Picry
Press Secretary for the City of Mons
T. +32 (0)65 40 59 71
Gsm +32 (0)497 970 873
[email protected]
Géraldine Simonet
PR Manager
T. +32 (0)65 40 51 72
Gsm +32 (0)473 604 994
[email protected]
Organised by the Exhibition Department
of the Mons Museum Network,
supported by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
Contents
Signs of the times
Press release / page 05
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The exhibition / page 05
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The exhibition’s artists / page 06
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The curator / page 06
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The catalogue / page 06
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Visuals available to the press / page
07
The Battle of Mons
Press release / page 10
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Different themes in the exhibition / page
—
The curator / page 11
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The catalogue / page 11
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Visuals available to the press / page 12
10
Fritz Haber
Press release / page 14
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The exhibition / page 14
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David Vandermeulen / page 15
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Fritz Haber / page 15
—
Visuals available to the press /
page 16
The First and the last / page 17
Practical details / page 17
Activities connected to the exhibitions / page 17
Press Kit
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Signs of
the times
Curator
Exhibition coordination
Nikola Doll
Alice Cantigniau
T. 065 40.53.08
[email protected]
visionary art
from pre-1914
Odile Moreau
T. 065 40.53.05
[email protected]
Press release
But we were talking about the Belle Époque! A period marked by dazzling
social, technological, economic and political progress, brought to an abrupt
end on 4 August 2014. But how could we ever get to that point? This exhibition, entitled Signs of the times attempts to explore the widespread sense
of restlessness that clearly manifested itself in the art scene in the pre-war
period. The upheaval of day-to-day habits unleashed a range of contradictory
emotions: fear and hope, uncertainty and dreams, intoxication and aspiration.
More than forty artists from 6 different European countries have been
brought together to look at themes that help us analyse the boundaries
and the bridges between different artistic trends such as naturalism, symbolism and expressionism. Together, they reveal the signature, reflected in
visual arts, of a period filled with uncertainty. This state of crisis produced,
in no small part, by the collapse of traditional values, is one of the roots of
modern art. Visions of fear, threats, and the apocalypse rub shoulders with
projects looking at utopic, idyllic worlds. Interpreted today as Signs of the
times, above all these pieces bear witness to a world in a state of revolution,
one that we attempt to understand with the benefit of hindsight as visionary
images of a gloomy future.
The 150 pieces in this exhibition include paintings, sculptures, graphic pieces
and photographs by German, French, Belgian, Swiss and Austrian artists from
major international collections: Georges Minne, Auguste Rodin, Edvard Munch,
Félicien Rops and Alfred Kubin as well as Léon Spillaert, Fernand Khnopff,
Arnold Schönberg, James Ensor, and Ludwig Meidner to name but a few…
The darkest pages of the Belle Époque are revealed as the exhibition goes on.
The exhibition
Periods of upheaval have always generated new waves of artistic trends.
With the benefit of hindsight, we can rediscover a number of masterpieces
and see them as the reflection of a period of uncertainty. The 6 themes
tackled in this exhibition are:
1. Signs of the times
The visitor is immediately confronted by a huge wall of more than 250 photographs on a glass background from the Mundaneum’s image collections. Most
of these translucent images date back to the beginning of the 20th century.
They have been put together to create a panorama that reveals a whole
new world: illustrations of technical advances, economic riches and mass
consumption, alongside representations of how cities have changed, to the
detriment of nature. The whole thing creates a kaleidoscopic overview of
a world undergoing major changes. The place of the individual can only be
turned upside down faced with so many changes in such a short period.
2. Homo sacer
Compassion, this word, with Christian connotations, goes perfectly with
the 19th century as it sums up the social concerns of the burgeoning middle
class. Clearly this period did not invent the concept, but it did give it an extra
element, tinged with suffering and despair. The depictions of women and
children at work have become symbols of human exploitation in a century
overcome with rampant industrialisation. These works of art become the
precursors of a precarious humanity.
Press Kit
3. Half-man – half-animal
In 1859, Charles Darwin published On the origin of the species by means of
natural selection. No theory other than that of Evolution has revolutionised
science to this extent, shaking the foundations of social hierarchies. In around
1900, the notion of “fighting for survival” is established in the consciousness
of the European bourgeoisie.
Artists such as Félicien Rops, Edvard Munch and Alfred Kubin leaned
towards Darwin’s theories. Their representations of mixed beings, half-man,
half-animal, defined the boundaries of decadence and bear witness to the
rocky hierarchy in the relationship between men and women.
4. State of emergency
The demographic growth seen in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century
triggered new fears. The artistic output of James Ensor and Ludwig Meidner
illustrate this individual awareness, intensified by the standardisation triggered by mass culture. Visual arts became virulent and incisive. Some
paintings take the form of allegories. Others, like those by Henri de Groux,
are visions of a social apocalypse. These works of art often have an indefinable
style, giving a sense, not without irony, of a wretched, almost paranormal
destiny. Idealistic or prophetic? That is the question that underlies our take
on these works of art.
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5. “I” is someone else
6. Out of the ordinary
A sense of languid unease took possession of humanity at the beginning
of the 20 th century. Artists began to understand reality from the starting
point of their own subjectivity. Influenced by Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis method, artists released the irrational from a world of seemingly
well-ordered objects. They saw the artistic process as the expression of
a psychological density that was starting to blossom in a conventional
social setting. So all of a sudden the barren landscapes of Degouve de
Nuncques or the lifeless interiors of Xavier Mellery can resonate with
the enigmatic representations of Schönberg; each one has his own way
of highlighting what some call the “hidden trapdoors of the soul”.
The ideal of modernity in the guise of technical progress was by no means
one that everybody shared. Indeed, criticism blossomed faced with a
certain industrial culture that saw nature as an object to be fashioned
to the service of mankind. For artists like Wilhelm Diefenbach and Gusto
Gräser, the city, the nation and technical advances represented a threat
to humanity. In their eyes, the choice of a different life was possible.
So the artist became the creator of parallel universes or seemingly perfect
technical systems. Albert Trachsel, for example, came up with architectural
models for the ideal humanist society. Somewhere between science fiction
and post-Romanticism, the works of art express the dream of a perfect
union between mankind and the cosmos, while a whole other reality is
coming into existence.
The exhibition’s artists
Max Beckmann, Cécile Douard, William Degouve de Nuncques, Wilhelm Diefenbach,
Henry Dunant, James Ensor, Gusto Gräser, Otto Greiner, Otto Gutfreund, Henry
de Groux, Wenzel Hablik, Hugo Höppener (Fidus), Ludwig von Hofmann, Fernand
Khnopff, Käthe Kollwitz, Alfred Kubin, Auguste Levêque, Wilhelm Lehmbruck,
The curator
Nikola Doll is an exhibition curator, researcher and lecturer. She is currently
involved in research with the prestigious group Bild – Wissen – Gestaltung /
image – knowledge – Gestaltung, at the Humboldt University of Berlin.
Her fields of research essentially focus on the following themes:
– Fine art in the 19th and 20th centuries
– A rts and cultural policy
– H istory and history of art
– F ine art and architecture in National Socialist Germany
and the Democratic Republic of Germany
– Exhibition narratives and posters
She has already been the curator of a number of exhibitions including:
– Weltwissen. 300 Jahre Wissenschaften in Berlin, Martin-Gropius-Bau,
Berlin 2010/11.
– Kunst und Propaganda im Streit der Nationen, Deutsches Historisches
Museum Berlin, Berlin 2007.
– A s well as other exhibitions for the Humboldt University of Berlin,
Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn, Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik
Deutschland, Bonn.
Louis Mascré, Ludwig Meidner, George Méliès, Xavier Mellery, Constantin Meunier,
Georges Minne, Wilhelm Morgner, Edvard Munch, Auguste Rodin, Félicien Rops,
Arnold Schönberg, Paul Sérusier, Max Slevogt, Léon Spilliaert, Jakob Steinhardt,
Felix Vallotton, Albert Weisgerber, H.G. Wells, Philippe Wolfers, Ossip Zadkine.
The catalogue
The exhibition is accompanied by a 144-page illustrated book containing 4 essays
by Nikola Doll, Denis Laoureux, Sabine Faster and Jörg Templer, a catalogue with
6 themed chapters written by Nikola Doll, a chronology of the successive crises
in Europe between 1789 and 1914 by Felix Jäger, a list of the works of art on
display and a selective bibliography.
Contents
Editorial / Collège communal de la Ville de Mons
Foreword / Xavier Roland – Head of the Pôle Muséal
Essays
I – Introduction / Nikola Doll (Humboldt University of Berlin)
II – The catastrophes and their origins in images / Jörg Templer (Humboldt
University of Berlin)
III – See Sedan, catch a glimpse of Verdun: the spectre of disaster in fin
de siècle Belgium / Denis Laoureux (Université Libre de Bruxelles)
IV – On the borders: artistic concepts and the birth of psychiatry / Sabine Faster
Catalogue
Chapter I – Signs
Chapter II – Homo Sacer
Chapter III – Half-man – half-animal
Chapter IV – State of emergency
Chapter V – “I” is someone else
Chapter VI – Out of the ordinary
Chronology (1789 – 1914) / Felix Jäger
List of the works of art on display
Selective bibliography
Colophon
Acknowledgements
Photo credits
The catalogue is on sale for €29. It is published by Éditions Racine in French
and is available in bookshops belonging to the network covered by Racine.
Press Kit
06
visuals available to tHe Press
1. Léon Spilliaert, Autoportrait au carnet de croquis bleu,
1907. Chinese ink wash, brush, colour pencil, pastel on
paper. royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, inv. 2697,
© Lukas - Art in Flanders VZW / royal Museum of Fine
Arts, Antwerp, photo : Hugo Maertens / sABAM 2014.
2. Henry de Groux, Le Charnier (Courrières), 1906, pastel
on paper, collection belonging to the Hainaut Province
de – looked after by the B.P.s.22 – Charleroi © Photo
DGACH-r.sAUBLAiNs.
3. Ossip Zadkine, La misère de Job, 1914, wood, royal Museum
of Fine Arts, Antwerp, inv. 2338, © Lukas - Art in Flanders
VZW / royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, photo: Hugo
Maertens / sABAM 2014.
4. Félicien Rops, Satan semant l’ivraie, 1882, rotogravure
with soft ground, Collection belonging to the Félicien rops
Museum, Namur Province, inv. G 19.
5. Cécile Douard, Le terril, 1898. Oil on canvas, Collection
belonging to the French Community, looked after by the
BAL, Liège, inv 1657.
6. Alfred kubin, Une pour tous, circa 1900/1901. Chinese ink,
wash, sprayed on to cadastral paper, Oberösterreichisches
Landesmuseum, Linz, inv. Ha ii 3179.
7. Max Slevogt, Le vainqueur, 1912. Oil on canvas, stiftung
Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, inv. M 5466, © stiftung
Museum Kunstpalast, Horst Kolberg , ArtOtHeK.
14. Ludwig Meidner, Vision apocalyptique (with portrait of Lotte
Wahle in the middle), 1914, pencil on board, sammlung
Winfried Flammann, Karlsruhe.
8. Henry Dunant, Diagramme symbolique: la première création,
late 1880s, ink, Chinese ink and pastel on paper. international
red Cross Museum, Geneva, inv. Col-2000-14-1.
15. Arnold Schönberg, Regard, May 1910, oil on board, sign.
u.dat. u.re.: Arnold schönberg, Belmont Music Publishers,
Pacific Palisades. Arnold schönberg Center, Vienna, Cat.
raisonné Nr. 61.
9. Fidus, Invocation à la lumière, 1894/1922, oil on canvas.
Archiv der deutschen Jugendbewegung, Witzenhausen, inv.
N 38, Nr. 586, © Barbara Krippner / sABAM 2014.
10. William Degouve de Nuncques, La forêt lépreuse, 1895,
oil on canvas. Private collection.
11. Auguste Rodin, Femmes damnées, 1885, bronze. Musée
rodin, Paris, inv. Nr. s 489 / ML 219.
12. Philippe Wolfers, Civilisation et Barbarie, 1897, silver,
ivory and onyx. Collection belonging to the King Baudouin
Foundation, looked after by the royal Museums of Art and
History, Brussels © Hughes Dubois.
13. Pierre Paulus, Maternité (La Sambre), 1912. Oil on canvas,
BAM, Mons, inv. 2 / sABAM 2014.
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16. Wenzel Hablik, Voûte céleste I, 1909 (29./30.1.1909), oil on
canvas. Wenzel-Hablik-Foundation, itzehoe, inv. WH ÖL 194.
17. Auguste Levêque, Le Job, before 1906, oil on canvas,
Collection belonging to the Belgian state, Brussels, inv.
10.689.
18. Felix Vallotton, Le cadavre, 1894, oil on canvas, Museum
of Grenoble, Grenoble, inv. MG 3900.
19. James Ensor, Auto-da-fé, 1893, etching on coloured copper
on paper. Belfius Collection, Brussels / sABAM 2014.
20. Eugène Carrière, Méditation, circa 1900, oil on canvas,
Musée d’art roger Quilliot [MArQ], Clermont Ferrand, photo
Patrick André.
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The Battle
of Mons
Curator
Exhibition coordination
Guillaume Blondeau,
assisted by
Aline Staes
Caroline Dumoulin
T. 065 40.53.09
[email protected]
objects bearing witness
Press release
23 August 1914. The Battle of Mons begins. This marked the first conflict
of the Great War between the German army and British soldiers. Mons was
in the hands of the enemy, and would remain so until it was liberated on
11 November 1918.
The exhibition looks at this historic event from an intuitive, reflective angle.
The objects in the military history collection of the City of Mons are at the
heart of the project. Visitors are invited to look at the historic items on
display to reflect or raise their own questions on the subject. They will then
be able to compare their own interpretations with the ‘historical truth’.
Although it focuses on the Battle of Mons, this exhibition also explores
wider themes, such as the importance of belief and spirituality during
times of war, as well as the civil resistance during this conflict.
Fitting in chronologically with the Signs of the times exhibition, this exhibition is designed to attract art lovers, thanks to its sensitive approach
to historic subjects, as well as those interested in history. Indeed, anybody fascinated by the Great War will be able to look at genuine objects,
eye witness accounts and photographs connected to the Battle of Mons,
which took place on 23 August 1914. A fantastic opportunity to explore
items that will subsequently be taken to the Mons Memorial Museum.
Different themes in the exhibition
After a short overview of the context of the Battle of Mons, different themes
connected to the eleven main objects will be covered.
– The importance of music in the sound landscape of the war. Used for military
purposes on the battlefield, music also illustrates soldiers’ affection for
their region or regiment.
– The dominance of the artillery and machine guns on the battlefield in the
Great War. They would become symbols of industrial war.
– The German soldier with his spiked helmet instilled fear in the residents
of Mons. Allied propaganda depicted the enemy in this headgear as a
subcultural barbarian.
– The Great War was the backdrop for many legends in which soldiers were
helped by celestial figures. These apparitions were based on a complex
phenomenon legitimising the war.
– Life for soldiers during the Battle of Mons in 1914 was hard: quick marches, heavy equipment unsuitable for the conditions, stifling heat, lack
of food and water.
– Thousands of men were injured, killed or disappeared on both sides during
the Battle of Mons. The creation of the military cemeteries and monuments
to the dead were an attempt to help civilians in their grief.
Press Kit
– Mons marks the first fighting by the British Expeditionary Force during the
Great War. A medal, the “Mons Star”, demonstrates the symbolic importance of Mons for Great Britain and would be awarded to 350,000 British
soldiers promoted to the rank of national heroes.
– During the Battle of Mons, some German soldiers committed unwarranted
acts of violence. Houses were set on fire, local residents shot, hostages
taken and civilians used as a human shield: these are some of the atrocities
seen by the Mons region.
– Starting in August 1914, press, propaganda and censorship organisations
were gradually established. It is hard to get reliable information about
events and soldiers on the front line. Letters became the main means of
communication for families.
– After the Battle of Mons, locals found themselves on occupied land. A few
civilians chose to fight in secret. They helped British soldiers leave Belgium
and go to the Netherlands, which was still neutral.
– After the Battle of Mons on 23 August 1914, the British Expeditionary
Force began a long retreat to the Marne. Over the course of 12 days, the
soldiers travelled more than 250 km in the oppressive heat without any
rest and with no water or food.
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The curator
The catalogue
Guillaume Blondeau, curator of the future Mons Memorial Museum
A historian by training, Guillaume Blondeau joined the Pôle Muséal de la
Ville de Mons in 2011 as the curator of the future Mons Memorial Museum.
Before joining the team dedicated to the culture of Mons, he worked with
the federal centre for historic research, the CEGES. His field of study,
directly linked to the Mons Memorial Museum, focused on the City of Mons
during the two World Wars.
The exhibition is accompanied by a fantastically illustrated 56-page book.
Contents
Editorial / Collège communal de la Ville de Mons
Foreword / Guillaume Blondeau
Objects bearing witness / Guillaume Blondeau and Aline Staes
I. Kilt and canon noise
II. Power of fire
III. Fritz VS Tommy
IV. Gott mit unz
V. 27 kg
VI. The injured, dead, and disappeared
VII. To the rank of hero
VIII. Atrocities
IX. News from the front line
X. In secret
XI. The Great Retreat
Colophon and acknowledgements
The catalogue is on sale for 16 € at the BAM.
Available in French, Dutch and English.
Press Kit
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Visuals available to the press
1.Drum belonging to the Duke of Cambridge’s Own
(Middlesex) Regiment, found on the battlefield. Collections
belonging to the City of Mons / © photo: Rino Noviello
5.Notebooks belonging to François Petit, a civilian from Mons,
in which he made daily notes detailing events in Mons from
3 August 1914 until 31 October 1918. Collections belonging
to the City of Mons / © photo: Rino Noviello
2.Artillery shell engraved “Mons 1914-1918”. Collections
belonging to the City of Mons / © photo: Rino Noviello
6.Funeral cross on the grave of a German soldier and a
British soldier killed on 23 August 1914. Collections belonging to the City of Mons / © photo: Rino Noviello
3.
S piked helmet used by the Prussian infantry. Collections
belonging to the City of Mons / © photo: Rino Noviello
7.Spiked helmet used by the Prussian infantry (detail).
Collections belonging to the City of Mons / © photo:
Rino Noviello
4.German infantry uniform. Collections belonging to the
City of Mons / © photo: Rino Noviello
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9.Machine gunner Vickers from the 1/Cheshire who took part
in the Battle of Mons on 23 August 1914 (detail). Collections
belonging to the City of Mons / © photo: Rino Noviello
10.M achine gunner Vickers from the 1/Cheshire who took
part in the Battle of Mons on 23 August 1914. Collections
belonging to the City of Mons / © photo: Rino Noviello
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8.Crushed bugle from the King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Collections
belonging to the City of Mons / © photo: Rino Noviello
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12.07.14
› 16.11.14
salle saint-GeorGes
mons
FRITZ HABER
a mind at war
Curator
Exhibition coordination
Jean Marie Derscheid
Bruno Vande Graaf
T. 065 40.53.10
[email protected]
Press release
This exhibition tells the story of Fritz Haber, a Jewish-German chemist who
was a paradoxical figure, a friend of Einstein and the inventor of mustard
gas, which was used as a weapon during the Great War. It tells the story
of the 1918 Nobel Prize for Chemistry and is illustrated by the Belgian
artist David Vandermeulen. The series was launched over 10 years ago;
this year, the author will publish his fourth album. Critics recognised his
rigorous work and impeccable historic methods, backed up by an academic background that is essential when it comes to tackling this sort of
controversial subject: the responsibility of the Jewish-German scientific
and political elite during the First World War. Working with ink wash and
using sepia ink, David Vandermeulen has a very specific technique that
makes his work so original. He manages to develop an almost photographic
realism, while also introducing contrasting effects with shadows in different shades of brown. An unflinching project, which will be laid out by
his very own team of designers. An exhibition that is likely to haunt you
thanks to the subject matter, the work and the atmosphere that will fill
the Salle Saint-Georges, a former chapel that has been converted into
an exhibition room.
The exhibition
The exhibition housed in the Salle Saint-Georges presents the artistic and
symbolist aspects of the work of David Vandermeulen, as well as showcasing
the educational and historic features that make his cartoons so unique.
David Vandermeulen’s work has an incredibly “realist” feel. He creates individual
small squares with a sepia wash, making adjustments with bleach (to preserve
the “chemical” look of the narrative). The images are then scanned and put
together in the form of “comic book pages”. So the original drawings are very
small, and the exhibition contains a huge number of them.
The exhibition focuses on a number of general themes:
1. The Empire
The author tackles the biography of Fritz Haber, presenting the historic
context and depicting Imperial Germany and its cities, the cradles of the
most innovative scientific and industrial innovations.
2. Fritz Haber and Clara (youth)
Two exceptional young chemists meet before having very different futures,
ending in tragedy.
3. The Nibelungen
An 18th century German story with Scandinavian roots, set to music in
the famous ring cycle by Wagner, and told on the big screen by Fritz Lang.
David Vandermeulen draws on Lang’s iconic classic and reinvents the tale
in cartoon form, illustrating the Prussian future of Fritz Haber, and giving
the story the fantastical element needed to understand the German state
of mind at the beginning of the 20th century.
Press Kit
4. Science and University
From Fritz Haber’s rejection as professor by a number of German universities
because of his Jewish roots, to his incredible scientific achievements and
recognition. David Vandermeulen tells the story through portraits of the
German Jewish scientific elite.
5. Industry
The author tells the story of industrial development that would make Germany
the world’s second largest economic power at the beginning of the 20th century,
one capable of standing up to the rest of the world.
6. Fritz Haber, Nobel Prize for Chemistry
After a difficult beginning, Fritz Haber was awarded the Nobel Prize for
Chemistry for his research into Nitrogen fixation and the industrial development of ammonia. He was keen to earn recognition from the German
Empire, and served the German nation. He designed and created the first
ever chemical weapon: mustard gas.
7. Gas warfare
Fritz Haber was aware of his terrible invention, and convinced the German army
of its “usefulness”. He went to the front at Yser to see for himself how mustard
gas could be used and the results.
8. The birth of Zionism
A people without a homeland, the Jewish community assembled. David
Vandermeulen looks at the first signs of the creation of the State of Israel
and depicts its founding fathers: Herzl and Weizmann. Fritz Haber continues
to look for his identity, unable to choose between his Jewishness and his
quest for recognition from his German homeland.
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David Vandermeulen
Born in 1968, David Vandermeulen spent his childhood in the south-east
of Brussels, between Auderghem and Boitsfort. An only child, he grew up
in quiet residential areas, where he devoured comic books.
After working on a number of different projects, David found the starting
point for his quest for artistic identity that would lead to Fritz Haber,
his future masterpiece.
Showing real promise, David quickly became the class artist at the Collège
Saint-Hubert. The young Vandermeulen was already imagining himself as a
comic book author. After struggling at school, David went to the Académie
des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, and then the Ecole du Louvre, which opened
a school in Brussels. However, David was never satisfied with this new
direction, and realised that his life lay elsewhere.
At the beginning of the 21st century, David Vandermeulen dedicated himself
completely to comic books, alternating between humorous and serious
material. Two sides of his personality that he cultivates with the same
dexterity.
For five years, David Vandermeulen stayed away from pencils and brushes.
His love for comic books returned when he discovered the vibrancy of the
alternative comic book scene. He discovered Stéphane Noël’s BrainProduk
and got excited about the new wave of independent publishers.
Started in 2003, this biography of the German Jewish chemist, Fritz Haber,
would contain more than a thousand pages and take some twenty years
to complete. The four volumes that have been published so far have been
rewarded with a host of prizes and awards around the world.
Fritz Haber
Chronology
1868 – Fritz Jacob Haber was born in Breslau.
1891 – Successful doctoral thesis.
1898 – The great English chemist, William Crookes appealed to chemists all
around the globe that the world would soon suffer from widespread
famine if a synthetic version of nitrogen wasn’t developed soon.
Haber made this his personal challenge.
1901 – His young wife, Clara Immerwahr Haber, gave birth to their son, Hermann.
1906 – Haber converted to Protestantism. He landed his first position as professor.
1908 – Haber registered the patent for ammonia and sold it to BASF the
following year.
1912 – He was appointed director of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Physics and Chemistry
Institute in Berlin by Wilhelm II.
1913 – Haber and Einstein became friends.
1914 – During the first few days of the conflict, Haber went to see the Minister
to offer his services to the war effort. He was allocated a budget for
his work on new chemical weapons.
1915 – The first attack using chlorine on the front line at Ypres was personally
supervised by Haber. His wife, Clara, committed suicide.
1917 – Haber married his second wife, Charlotte Nathan.
1918 – Afraid of being seen as a war criminal Haber fled to Switzerland.
1919 – Haber was awarded the 1918 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his research
into making a synthetic version of ammonia.
1923 – Keen to be the saviour of Germany once again, Haber prepared for an
expedition to the southern seas in the hope of being able to extract
several tonnes of gold from the seawater. He abandoned the project
after a few months as the results were so awful.
1933 – Regarded as a national hero, Haber was one of a handful of Jews
not to be affected by the new Nazi laws. However, he was ordered
to get rid of all the Jews working in his institute. He made the decision to resign and go into exile in France. Chaim Weizmann, the
future President of Israel, offered him the position of Rector of the
University of Jerusalem.
1934 – Haber died of a heart attack in late January, in Basel, without really
having the time to respond to Weizmann’s offer.
Much more than just a comic book
The Fritz Haber project is much more than just a biography of a German
Jewish Nobel Prize winner. It attempts to avoid the pitfalls of a hagiography
by taking a broader look at the cultural and political context of Germany in
the years between 1880 and 1933. The narrative embraces a theme that is
rarely tackled within the realms of human science: the responsibilities and
Press Kit
contradictions of the German Jewish scientific and political elite during the
First World War. Or, to put it another way: how did a state-less community
view the rise of nationalism in the west, and what were the repercussions
of these troubling times for the issue of Jewish identity? This is an original
and key question for the author, and one that he continues to ask himself.
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Visuals available to the press
All of the visuals must be accompanied by the words © Editions Delcourt / David Vandermeulen 2014.
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The first and the last
An exhibition organised in collaboration with Arts², the WBT and Central Saint Martins in London
Within the context of the centenary of the First World War, the Belgian Tourist Office Brussels-Wallonia in London has
launched a commemorative art competition with the prestigious Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in
London. The students of today, who would have been soldiers in 14-18, express what the Great War represents and
what feelings it evokes for them. The competition builds a bridge between two eras and two generations based on
artistic creativity. The same concept was launched at the Mons-based college, Arts², triggering a cultural, peaceful
rivalry with their British counterparts.
Activities
connected to
the exhibitions
BAM MONS
8, rue Neuve - 7000 Mons – +32 (0)65 40 53 30
open every day apart from Monday from 10am until 6pm
SALLE SAINT-GEORGES
Grand’Place - 7000 Mons – +32 (0)65 40 52 06
open every day apart from Monday from 12am until 6pm
Free Sundays
07.09, 05.10 & 02.11
Evening openings until 9pm
Thursdays 11.09, 09.10 & 13.11
Price for the exhibition “Fritz Haber” only: 2 €
—
Combined ticket for all exhibitions
Price: 9 €
Talks
Concessions (groups of more than 10 people, students and discount cards): 6 €
› T hursday 25.09 at 7pm: Talk by David Vandermeulen,
the illustrator behind “Fritz Haber”
Article 27 : 1,25 €
› Sunday 9.11 at 3pm at the BAM: Talk by Guillaume Blondeau,
curator of the exhibition entitled “The Battle of Mons”
Saturday 11.10, a day dedicated to
“War, Mankind and the Subconscious”
The programme includes a choice of two exhibitions and the chance
to meet experts on the trauma of war.
Sunday 19.10, “curious Sunday” with Lille 3000
Sundays 21.09, 26.10 and 16.11, “Special shuttle buses”
Show your entry ticket and enjoy a guided tour of Saint-Symphorien
cemetery, transport included.
For info and to register: 065 40 53 12
Press Kit
Free for anyone under 12
—
BAM reception (during opening hours)
+32 (0)65 40 53 30
Salle Saint-Georges reception (during opening hours)
+32 (0)65 40 52 06
Tourist Information Office (every day from 10am until 6pm)
+32 (0)65 33 55 80
Guided tours available, booking required via the Tourist Information Office
+32 (0)65 35 34 88
www.polemuseal.mons.be
polemuseal.mons / MonsPolemuseal
17
www.polemuseal.mons.be
polemuseal.mons / MonsPolemuseal
OrGANiseD BY tHe eXHiBitiON DePArtMeNt OF tHe MONs MUseUM NetWOrK, sUPPOrteD BY tHe WALLONiA-BrUsseLs FeDerAtiON.