Searching for a cartoon book in my collection, I realised that I didn't show you this book of the great Karl Meersman earlier (114 pages, Roularta books, 2003., ISBN 90-5466-593-9).
It contains extraordinary drawings of mostly belgian politicians, artists and CEO's.
On the cover is former Belgian Prime Minister, now Member of the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt.
In the book are some other oustanding portraits of Guy Verhofstadt in all of which you discover the craftmanship of Karl Meersman:
For those who don't know the art of Karl Meersman click here. You'll find previous articles on our blog with or about art of Karl.
Don't hesitate to look at the website of Karl to see more recent art.
No,he's not the CEO of brewery AB Inbev... he's Carlos Brito the cartoonist (and he likes the Belgian beer) .
Carlos Brito was born in 1943 in Lisbonne and has lived in France since 1963. Cartoonist since 1980, he was already involved in several Portuguese publications during the « Carnation Revolution » in 1974/75. Since then he has published, among others, for Le Monde Diplomatique, La vie ouvrière, Les Nouvelles Littéraires, L’Événement du Jeudi, Politis and L’Humanité. He has drawn for Le Monde from 1983 to 2011 and for Le Canard Enchaîné from 1987 to 2012. He is currently free of any editorial attachment but he is still an active cartoonist (source: Cartooning for peace)
Last Saturday I had the opportunity to meet the artist at the vernissage of his exhibition in the ECC. It was a very emotional moment when, in his speech, he referred to the Cartoon(H)Art for Brussels exhibition (pop-up exhibition in the ECC , tribute to the terrorist attacks in Brussels om March 22 2016). He has lost friends in the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo, and he knows as no other the high value of freedom of expression where we fought and still fight for since the French revolution.
I spotted this cartoon. It was drawn some time ago when former French president Sarkozy announced "the end of fiscal paradises". With the Panama Papers this cartoon is actual again. Watch attentively the logo the Belgian newspaper De Tijd uses for the articles about the Panama Papers...
De Tijd newspaper
Carlos Brito
Hereunder a short impression of the opening speech...
Last week I enjoyed myself looking in the 2001 catalogue of the Euro-Kartoenale.
It reminded me at one of the basic principles of cartoons, cartoons as funny drawings. Most of the cartoons in this catalogue are very witty. After a day of work, looking in such a catalogue is really relaxing... People with symptoms of stress shouldn't practise some kind of "mindfulness", I'd rather advice to watch cartoon books. It really helps.
Reading gag cartoons books is a no-nonsense approach to fighting stress... That's my humble opinion.
Maybe yo can try this nice catalogue of the Euro-Kartoonale 2001 (Kruishoutem). This catalogue is still available in the ECC.
Fifteen years after the death of Belgians very beloved cartoonist Brasser, the friends of his home town Humbeek organized a retrospective exhibition celebrating the life and work of the artist Paul De Valck.
During his life, Brasser drew more than 15.000 cartoons. He was called "the emperor of the Flemish cartoon". Brasser was not only loved for his cartoons, but he was a very social and amicable personality.
On this occasion a new book was published (ISBN 978-9090-295718, 264 pages, hard cover). It's not only a biography with testimonies by family, friends and former colleagues, but also a collection of about 500 cartoons out of the impressive oeuvre. The book costs 25 euro. I enjoyed myself reading the book. Only negative point I find about the book, is that too many cartoons are placed on one page. "Less is more" is a great rule that goes up for the number of cartoons placed on one page.
I ordered the book in advance and as it was a beautiful day I took my bike with my car and made a 76 km bike trip from Ternat, through Brussels (yes, also through Molenbeek!) to the village of Humbeek where I visited the exhibition and where I picked up the book...
