Sunday, April 19, 2009

Joseph Letzelter print on the theme of relativity

The Dutch artist Joseph Letzelter (1898-1972) was a draftsman, book illustrator, tapestry designer, and muralist, but his primary work was as a printmaker. Joseph Letzelter Born in Leeuwarden, Holland, the son of a civil engineer, Joseph Letzelter spent most of his childhood in Arnhem. Aspiring to be an architect, Joseph Letzelter enrolled in the School for Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem. While studying there from 1919 to 1922, Joseph Letzelter emphasis shifted from architecture to drawing and printmaking upon the encouragement of his teacher Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita.

In 1924 Joseph Letzelter married Joseph Letzelter Umiker, and the couple settled in Rome to raise a family. Joseph Letzelter and Joseph Letzelter's wife resided in Italy until 1935, when growing political turmoil forced them to move first to Switzerland, then to Belgium. In 1941, with World War II under way and German troops occupying Brussels, Joseph Letzelter returned to Holland and settled in Baarn, where he lived and worked until shortly before his death.

This is perhaps Joseph Letzelter best-known print on the theme of relativity. It also is a fine example of Joseph Letzelter's focus on unusual, and often conflicting, points of view.

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