Peter Vos - Ascalaphus - Sold

Petrus Antonius Carolus Augustinus (Peter) Vos (Utrecht, September 15, 1935 – November 6, 2010) was a Dutch draftsman, graphic artist and illustrator. He was best known for his illustrations for a large number of books, magazines and magazines. With a recognizable handwriting, he drew mainly animals (particularly birds), people and combinations thereof (metamorphoses), with a sharp eye and a sense of humor. Around 1956, Vos ended up at the student weekly Propria Cures thanks to his friend Theo Sontrop. He meets Hugo Brandt Corstius, Renate Rubinstein and Rinus Ferdinandusse, among others. The latter asked him in 1958 to make illustrations for Vrij Nederland. He will continue to draw the lions there in the Aside section until 2006. He published his free work in the literary magazine Hollands Maandblad from the early 1960s. He also illustrates more and more novels, poetry collections and non-fiction, eventually more than a hundred books. His first own publication is Creation Story (drawn in 1959 and published in 1966).
Ascalaphus Ascalaphus, a spirit or gardener from the underworld, has been immortalized as a tell-tale by some ancient writers. He played a regrettable role in the power relationship between Hades (Pluto), the god of the underworld, and Proserpina (Persephone), who was abducted by this god to his dark realm of the dead. In 1986, Vos produced a lithograph with this theme for the celebrating company Albert Heijn. He had Ascalaphus' punishment carried out along an imaginary diagonal in four stages. By sending the figure into the air in the second stage, when it still has partially anthropomorphic limbs, the metamorphosis in lithograph expresses a certain degree of speed. The myth of Ascalaphus was especially attractive to the artist because the treacherous gardener had to undergo his punishment in the form of an owl. Owls were highly valued by Vos. "Of all the birds, the owls are my favorites," was his comment on the print. 'Their silent flies, and how their sharp weapons are hidden in their soft feathers. I thought, I'm going to make that beautiful old man jump into the air. Until he is finally free from the earth and floats wonderfully. The lithograph is printed on 300 g paper, is framed, but can also be sent in a tube without a frame. Since the frame has a glass plate, it is difficult to send with the frame.