Gustave Verbeek
Gustave Verbeek , also Gustave Verbeck (* 1867 in Nagasaki , † December 5, 1937 in Bronx , New York City ) was a Japanese - Dutch newspaper illustrator. He became known for his reversible comics .
Life
Gustave Verbeek was born in Nagasaki in 1867 as the son of the Dutch missionary Guido Verbeck . He spent his childhood in Japan and later studied art in Paris . In 1900 he emigrated to the United States to work with several important illustrated magazines ( Harper’s , Saturday Evening Post ). A few years later he joined the New York Herald , in which he published three comic series over time: The Upside Downs of Little Lady Lovekins and Old Man Muffaroo (1903–1905), The Terrors of the Tiny Tads (1905– 1915) and The Loony Lyrics of Lulu (1910).
In 1920 Verbeek retired from comics and became a painter and sculptor . He died in New York in 1937.
Works
The Upside Downs of Little Lady Lovekins and Old Man Muffaroo
In 1903 Verbeek published his comic series The Upside Downs of Little Lady Lovekins and Old Man Muffaroo for the first time, illustrating the weekend edition of the New York Herald until 1905 with a total of 64 comics. Allegedly, the newspaper had only given him space for six pictures. He came up with the idea to double the length of his stories by using reverse images . First, all six individual images are read from the “correct” side. Once the reader has reached the last picture, he turns the entire comic upside down. Now six “new” individual images are added to the comic, each of which makes sense and at the same time fits into the entire story. The two main characters "Little Lady Lovekins" and "Old Man Muffaroo" are designed in such a way that they represent the other figure when turned upside down.
The most famous image from any of these comics comes from the story A Fish Story . The first part shows Old Man Muffaroo in a destroyed canoe. He is stranded on an island with two trees and is attacked by a fish. In the second part, this fish becomes the head of a giant bird ( Roch ) with Little Lady Lovekins in its beak. This beak was previously Muffaroo's canoe. The island has become the body and the trees have become the legs of the bird.
Other well-known comics from the series:
- The Fairy Palace (1904)
- The Thrilling Adventure of The Dragon (1904)
- Vogel of Boot (1904)
- Kleedhokjes (1903)
The Terrors of the Tiny Tads
The Terrors of the Tiny Tads first appeared on September 15, 1905 in the New York Herolds , continuing the illustration of their weekend edition until 1915. It was about a group of young children who were never named other than the generic Tad. The Tads were doomed to constantly meet terrifying characters, rarely nice and often threatening. Animals were combined to form a new fantasy figure. Sometimes inanimate objects such as suitcases or hotels were used for this.
In all of his three series he used techniques such as suitcase words , fictional animals and objects, and most importantly, a reliance on visual and literary limitations.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Verbeek, Gustave |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Japanese-Dutch newspaper illustrator |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1867 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Nagasaki |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 5, 1937 |
| Place of death | Bronx , New York City , USA |