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Raemaekers (Louis) papers and artwork
44001
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Title: Louis Raemaekers papers and artwork
Date (inclusive): 1901-1941
Collection Number: 44001
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
13 manuscript boxes, 29 oversize boxes, 1 oversize folder, 2 card file boxes, 1 album box, 4 envelopes, 2 map case drawers
(18.0 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Cartoons, sketches, paintings, correspondence, clippings, newspaper issues, and photographs, relating primarily to World War
I. Includes anti-German World War I cartoons, and cartoons relating to interwar world politics.
Creator:
Raemaekers, Louis, 1869-1956
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired in 1944.
[Identification of item], Louis Raemaekers papers and artwork, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library
& Archives.
| 1869 April 6 | Born at Roermond (Limburg), Netherlands, of a Dutch father (Josephus C. H., editor of a provincial newspaper) and a German mother |
| Unknown | Studied art in Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris |
| 1892 | Diploma, Art School, Amsterdam |
| Unknown | Portrait and landscape painter; professor of drawing and architecture at Wagemingen |
| 1902 | Married Johanna Petronella van Mansvelt; had one son and two daughters |
| 1907 | First cartoons appeared in the Algemeen Handelsblad, Amsterdam |
| 1909 February | Joined the Amsterdam Telegraaf as a political cartoonist and caricaturist |
| 1914 September | Ceased all other professional activity to dedicate himself to his anti-German campaign |
| 1915 | Charged in the Dutch courts with endangering the neutrality of Holland - discharged |
| 1915 October-Nov. | First exhibit of his cartoons given at the Fine Arts Society's Galleries in London |
| 1916 February | Presented with the Cross of the Legion of Honor |
| "Manifestation Raemaekers" in Paris | |
| 1916 Spring | Moved from Harlem to Sydenham, near London, in order to supply the Allied press around the world more readily |
| 1916 - 1918 | Made frequent visits to the front in France |
| 1917 July-December | Toured the United States on the request of David Lloyd George and drew cartoons for various newspapers, most notably the Hearst papers |
| 1919 April 7 | Guest of honor at a luncheon party given by the Lord Mayor of London at the Mansion House |
| Inter-war period | Campaigned in favor of the League of Nations and tried to alert public opinion to the danger of Nazism to world peace |
| Lived in Brussels, Belgium | |
| 1940 June | Emigrated to the United States via England |
| Unknown | Drew weekly cartoons for the New York Herald Tribune and the afternoon tabloid PM |
| 1956 July 26 | Died at Scheveningen near The Hague, Netherlands |
The Louis Raemaekers collection, acquired in 1944, contains correspondence, writings, newspaper issues, clippings, photographs,
and over 1,000 original drawings, consisting mostly of the bitingly satirical cartoons that made the Dutch artist famous worldwide.
Raemaekers joined the
Amsterdam Telegraaf as a political cartoonist and caricaturist in 1907, but with the outbreak of World War I ceased all other professional activity
to dedicate himself to an anti-German campaign through his cartoons. He was charged in the Dutch courts for violating the
neutrality of Holland, but his work found an appreciative audience in London where it was exhibited in 1915. During the war
he made frequent visits to the French front, charcoal in hand. In 1917, he toured the United States and drew cartoons for
various newspapers. The inter-war period found him living in Belgium and campaigning in favor of the League of Nations and
against the rising tide of Nazism. He eventually emigrated to the United States and continued his artistic career by drawing
cartoons for the New York
Herald Tribune and the afternoon tabloid
PM
Among the papers is an extensive correspondence series, which reflects Raemaekers' activism and contacts with many heads of
state, ministers, government agencies, relief organizations, and veterans' associations. Also noteworthy are scrapbooks of
clippings relating to Raemaekers' life and work. The speeches and writings series is very small, but does contain some interesting
letters to the editor and the speech he delivered before the Lord Mayor of London in 1919.
In 2001, thanks to the generous support of the Mericos Foundation, Raemaekers' artwork was re-housed and preservation treatment
provided with the assistance of the staff of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. The drawings can now be safely used for
research. The re-housing effort uncovered many titles previously hidden by matting, and those were incorporated into a revised
and expanded register.
Raemaekers' handwriting is often difficult to decipher, so the titles given in the finding aid may not always exactly correspond
to those on his artwork. In addition, minor grammar and spelling mistakes were corrected.
Ariane de Ranitz, who had researched the Raemaekers collection at the Hoover Institution Library & Archives to write her book,
Met een pen en een potlood als wapen (with a pen and a pencil as weapons), assisted the Archives staff with Dutch language titles.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Paintings
World War, 1914-1918 -- Propaganda
Drawing
World War, 1914-1918 -- Caricatures and cartoons
Propaganda, Anti-German
World politics -- 20th century -- Caricatures and cartoons