Johanna Maria Hendrika Daemen (1891–1944), credited here as “Jo”, wrote and illustrated The Sacred Flame: The Fairy-Tale of Stefan Pártos (1927), a tribute to a Hungarian violinist who died young. Daemen was a Dutch illustrator, graphic designer and glass artist who one suspects would be better known if she’d been British or American. The detail and composition of these illustrations is exceptional, falling somewhere between Kay Nielsen’s meticulous detailing and Harry Clarke’s stained-glass designs. This is another volume currently for sale at silver-gryph’s eBay pages where larger views of the drawings may be seen. (Thanks again to Nick for the tip!)
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Wow astonishing stuff. I looked around on the internet and found a mention on a couple Dutch sites but little else. Nothing on Bookfinder in Dutch or English. I’m going to be in Amsterdam this summer. I think I’ll do a little research.
Thanks!
Daemen has a relatively small oeuvre and isn’t as wellknown as her female contemporaries Rie Cramer and Willebeek le Mair for example. Her earliest worl is a bookdesign voor Rotterdam publisher Brusse in 1909. From about 1917 she worked in the studio of stained-glass artist Willem Bogtman. In this period she made several book designs and other illustrations for schoolbooks and sheetmusic. Her style is part Amsterdam School part (late) Art Nouveau. (That’s the reason I once owned a copy of this book, for my Beardsley in the Netherlands-research). I got most of thes information from the impressive and extensive studie from Marja Groot about Dutch female designers ‘Vrouwen in de vormgeving, 1890-1940’.
PS: Oh, I tell same as the ebayseller, didn’t read the extensive description initially. Anyhow, if you wanna know more about lesser-known Dutch artist, just ask me-:
Wow indeed, amazing, overwhelming images. So much depth and intensity. Will definitely look further into the artists work…
Wonderful!!