Joseph Ferdinand Doeve was born in Bandung Indonesia in 1907, but he later
became better known by his nickname Eppo. At the time Indonesia was a dutch colony,
and although both his parents were Dutch citizens they were also of multiracial backgrounds.
Throughout his childhood Doeve had shown a clear talent for drawing and painting
but in his later teens he went on to study agronomy at Wageningen University in Holland,
aiming for a career as a tea planter.
But when the Wall Street stock market crashed in 1929, the resulting economic
crisis caused the collapse of the Indonesian tea market and he quickly changed his plans.
And although entirely self taught decided to attempt a career in illustration. He
had already had a couple of illustrations commissioned by an Amsterdam advertising
agency and he designed this remarkably accomplished graphically stylised poster
in 1930 when he would have been 23 years old. Within a year he was regularly producing mostly
humorous line illustrations for the Haagse Post and in 1933 he became a political cartoonist at
the Groene Amsterdammer, which is where this early satire of Adolf Hitler was published.
In the years that followed he continued to produce a large volume of political cartoons but even at
this early stage of his career he demonstrated great stylistic versatility, and also created more
advertising work in the form of posters and press ads as well as numerous ex libris bookplates, many
of which were skilfully created in scraper board. Not all his magazine work was political and in
the later 1930s he also worked regularly for the Dutch radio guide Radio bode.
He produced many monochrome illustrations promoting the serial Paul Vlaanderen,
a Dutch version of the detective character Paul Temple, originally
created by British writer Francis Durbridge. And although printed quite small in pen and
ink line with occasional half tone dot screens he brought the same diligence and graphic authority
to these comic book style panels as he did to bigger budget and more prestigious commissions.
When World War 2 began in 1939 Holland declared themselves to be neutral, but even so they were
occupied by German forces in 1940. I found very few examples of his work from the war years, but
even the small amount I did find was stylistically varied. By this point he was also working as an
artist creating rather surreal portraits, and he also painted his first mural at this time.
Its guesswork on my part but it might be that given his earlier graphic mockery of
the Fuhrer, Doeve was trying to keep his head down during the occupation.
Following the end of the war he resumed his usual level of activity and In 1946
he worked with the writer Bertus Aafjes on the fairy tale comic strip Het Mannetje Bagatel.
Like his Paul Vlaanderen illustrations the frames were created as clean linear drawings
using dot screens again, based on Doeve's blue wash guides on the original artwork.
But at this time it was poster design which really
began to dominate his output. And from this point on he would be a significant
and ubiquitous graphic presence on on the walls of Dutch cities and towns.
In 1947 he was commissioned to create a series of posters for Artis zoo in Amsterdam,
and he came up with a collection of particularly striking graphic studies of various animals,
which were immensely popular, and naturally enough attracted many other clients.
A year later he created both this cheerful image of a cartoon penguin for an apple drink and yet
another for Heineken beer, which was just as entertaining and even more enduringly popular.
Although in his work as an artist he favoured the use of oil paint the great majority of
his commercial work was created using gouache, and occasionally watercolours.
All his posters exhibited remarkable levels of control of his medium and its application. They
were usually tonal in nature and although most appear to be have been created by traditional
brush work there are several examples which use flawless tonal transitions and strongly suggest
he was no stranger to the mechanical airbrush. However they were created they were uniformly
masterful demonstrations of the clear readability and dynamic composition vital to success in this
arena of commercial expression. And although he had to an extent absorbed the influence
of French master of the poster A. M. Cassandre he was certainly no mere copyist, and added as
much if not more of his own powerful aesthetic consideration and technique to the designs.
Given that he simultaneously continued to work as an artist and for his magazine clients this volume
of varied and immersive poster work constituted a truly remarkable creative achievement.
But this prolific torrent of poster design appears to have stalled in 1953 even if only for a few
years, and in that year he concerned himself more with various other projects, including
the prestigious commission to re-design Dutch bank notes. And for this series of images he produced
portraits of famous historical Dutch figures set against symbolic background elements. His original
images were transcribed into the spectacularly fine engravings required for monetary printing
and naturally enough this project brought him yet more celebrity status and respect.
Also in the 1950s his restless creative urge took him into other territory including theatrical
costume and particularly striking stage set design for a number of theatrical productions.
Doeve worked as an artist throughout his life, and the many paintings he created make for fascinating
viewing. Much of his art was portraiture, which was possessed of a calm and occasionally
unsettling atmosphere. And although always representational and skilfully rendered some
made use of his talent for comedic exaggeration, frequently to be seen in his commercial work.
As an artist he enjoyed reasonable and deserved success in his lifetime,
and although his paintings were never as popular as his more accessible illustrations
in the 1950s he created impressive murals in a range of styles from neoclassical to
more hard-edged industrial modern, which were very well received by critics and the public.
In 1955 he was commissioned to illustrate a calendar for the British brewery company
Whitbread, and he responded to the commission with a dozen floral-themed compositions which
were highly decorative and visually compelling. Some were painted as still
life but the majority incorporated scenic elements to great effect and these more
complex compositions radiated the same sense of stillness and quiet as his figure paintings.
In the following year the children's book Pia, written by Piet Bakker was published.
And his crayon doodles for this book could not have been more different from the precision and
tonal brush work of his flower paintings. So much so that I doubt anyone would even suspect
they were the creation of the same person. Around this time he was producing other
stylistically diverse images including some charming pictures for children's annuals,
using yet anther otherwise unseen and highly attractive stylistic approach. And in 1959
he was also commissioned to create an impressive modernist mural for the Dutch airline company KLM.
Doeve had by now become a well known and popular figure in postwar Holland,
and in the later 1950s he began appearing on various TV shows,
sometimes making comical pictures while on set and sometimes just being a witty guest.
But perhaps Most significantly in the later 50s he designed a series of compelling
book covers for the publishers Prisma. This particularly compelling illustration
was for an edition of H G Wells' Time Machine and other designs followed in rapid succession.
And whether it was for fiction or non-fiction he consistently found evocative and absorbing graphic
solutions as he had with his earlier posters. He continued to design many more stylish
and memorable book covers into the 1960s and the aesthetic authority and intuitive design
consciousness evident in these images has guaranteed an enduring and timeless appeal,
and this body of illustrative designs would not look dated on contemporary bookshelves.
In 1962 he illustrated Little Isar, the 4th King in collaboration with Bertus Aafjes.,
which was published by Elseviers Weekblad as a Christmas comic. As in Doeve's previous
comic strip work he kept the images graphic and simple and the story was successful enough to be
published in several other European countries. As the 1960s wore on it seems he lost none of
his popularity or creative ability, and the work he produced throughout the decade was
every bit as varied and accomplished as his earlier output. So everything from posters,
books, magazines, and more portraits and murals continued to proliferate. In 1971 he undertook
the considerable task of creating a series of panels which formed a spectacularly long narrative
mural for the town hall of the town of Huizen. By this time the visual evidence suggests he was
no longer in the same demand for posters and book design, but his magazine work,
most of it political, for Elseviers Weekblad and others continued as before.
Nevertheless in 1975 he created a series of distinctive illustrations for some of Hans
Andersen's fairy tales, using a combination of ink line and watercolour washes, some of which
were flat and some more tonally applied. The last verified image I found was this
satirical magazine illustration from 1980, and following a 50 year prolific career Eppo
Doeve died in 1981 at the age of 73. Following his death a large cache of
artwork and unpublished images was found stored away into every available drawer
and cupboard space of his studio, with no concern that they might be of value.
Eppo Doeve was by no means the first or last illustrator to have stumbled into
the profession, But tea planting's loss has undoubtedly been illustrations gain
and however accidental his career may have been he remains one of
the most significant and distinctive graphic stylists of the 20th century.
Many illustrators settle for one definitive approach to their work,
and some might have a second string to their bow. But very few could demonstrate the same level of
endless fascination for and dexterity with a range of techniques and media as Eppo Doeve.
And although there are many who may aspire to such versatility there are significantly fewer who have
the range of skills to achieve it with anything approaching the same degree of creative success.