Louis Raemaekers papers and artwork, 1901-1941

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Summary

Creators:
Raemaekers, Louis, 1869-1956
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.
Extent:
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)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Louis Raemaekers papers and artwork, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

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.

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
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
Acquisition information:
Acquired in 1944.
Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

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.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Louis Raemaekers papers and artwork, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
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