Kurt Lob - Litho, Man behind desk.

Kurt Löb (1924 – 2015) was a draftsman, painter, graphic artist and graphic designer. He was known mainly for his illustrations. Particularly novels by Russian writers. One could call him the last great illustrator of literature in the Netherlands. Hence the great interest that the Museum Meermanno Westreeniaum - the Museum of the Book in The Hague has always shown in his work. About his profession as an illustrator he said in retrospect: 'I once said that the illustrator is the best reader - I must now retract that. I have noticed that as an illustrator you read to recharge yourself.' Kurt Löb was a master of the summary indication. Because he did not work from models or directly from what he observed, and let his motifs arise from his imagination, this gave him the opportunity to let his chalk and pencil lines flow freely from the wrist. With the sharp point he made hard, clear lines, which he then blurred with his fingertip. Or he set up large tonal areas with the flat side of the chalk. Sometimes he washed his drawings - this can be done with a soft pencil - so that watercolour-like and mysterious shadows were created. The great predecessors have always had his full attention: Daumier, Rembrandt but also the early Renaissance draughtsmen. He has also written about them. Well-known is his book 'Mens zien mens', a study of drawings of the human figure. In 1994 he obtained his doctorate with a study of graphic designers who fled from Germany to the Netherlands in the thirties. Born 1924 in Berlin. 1939 emigration to the Netherlands. Education: State Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam. Exhibitions in many museums at home and abroad: including the Museum Meermanno Westreenianum, The Hague. Rembrandt House, Amsterdam. Teaching positions: until 1982 at the Royal Academy of Den Bosch; visiting professor at the University of Essen. Awards: Gutemberg Prize of the City of Leipzig.