Jef Nys: the early years as a cartoonist (ECC exhibition 21 June - 20 September 2015)

The spiritual father of the Flemish comic strip hero 'Jommeke' began as a cartoonist for the Flemish satirical magazine 't Pallieterke. In this exhibition you can admire the first political cartoons of Jef Nys from the period 1945 - 1955, who now are bundled in a new book "Jef Nys - De beginjaren als cartoonist". The book and accompanying exhibition are for the first time presented to the public in the ECC.

The book is written by Tomas Verachtert (1982) who is book reviewer and culture editor for 't Pallieterke. Few is known about the period 1945-1956 when Jef Nys worked as a cartoonist. We learn that he was a great admirer of Walt Disney and that he made excellent political, sports and film caricatures for the Flemish readers.

For those who aren't familiar with the Belgian political environment after WWII, and certainly for not Belgians, the cartoons may be difficult to comprehend. Of course the book gives those people a good insight (it's in Dutch language).

There is one cartoon I want to show particularly , the Churchill cartoon below.

Churchil nazy cartoon  by Jef Nys

Churchills by David Low

It is based on the cartoon the famous British cartoonist David Low drew, for the eightieth birthday of Churchill.  Low painted in colour a cartoon featuring a room packed with 18 Winston Churchills, all at different stages of his long and eventful life. Jef Nys draws a 19th Churchill: a brave one, fighting as a (Flemish) collaborating Eastern Front soldier against the communist Russians.

Eric de Rop  with son of Jef Nys

author Tomas Verachtert

Learn more:
't Pallieterke - Flemish satirical magazine since
more about Jef Nys (Wikipedia)
Low on Churchill by Timothy Benson