Did you know that Jessurun de Mesquita was the teacher of M.C. Escher?
Escher developed his woodcutting skills under the supervision of Jessurun de Mesquita. From both sides there was a great admiration and respect for the other and Escher wrote the text on the commemorative exhibition Jessurun de Mesquita and Mendes da Costa received right after WWII in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. An exhibition curated by another “star” from the forties an fifties, Willem Sandberg. Sandberg started right after WWII with this exhibition because he wanted to show the world the great loss of these 2 great jewish artists that did not survive the war. But lets focus on the works by Jessurun de Mesquita. Technically one of the very best at that time and with subjects that stood very nearby daily life and some surrealistic / Sensivistic drawings.
Many animals were depicted because the Artis Zoo was allways nearby and a much appreciated source for all his animal drawings and woodcuts. Nature, art deco and the best possible technique in the art of the woodcut print resulted in almost all of the cases in the best dutch art prints from that time.
Some excellent publications at www.ftn-books.com and for those reading the blog and want to order the very special Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita by Wassenaar/van Es from 1928. Use the code JESSURUNes and receive 10% discount on this title. Only 1 available and valid in september 2016.
This title from 1928 is the highlight in the book publications by Jessurun de Mesquita. It contains 2 original woodcuts on the inside and one original on the cover ( owl).
There is one other publication i can recommend and it is the monograph on Jessurun de Mesquita by the late Jonieke van Es, who wrote it and put one of the most complete catalogue Raisone’s together on any artist. This one for Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita is very special indeed.
And finally . for all readers of this blog….I have a nice set of Jessurun de Mesquita available 7 postcards for $15.00 including Worldwide shipping.
wilfried
