Draft:Kurt Löb

Kurt Leopold Löb (Berlin, 11 January 1926 – Amsterdam, 1 June 2015) was a Dutch artist of German-Jewish descent.

Life
Kurt Löb was one of two twin sons born from the union of Ludwig Löb (1890-1971) and Gertrud Kuschel (1897-1957). He spent his primary school years at the Private Jewish Forest School Kaliski in Berlin. In 1939, the Löb family had to flee Germany to escape the Nazi regime. The plan was to settle in Argentina, but as the political mood was souring, it was already too late for that and after a short stay with relatives in Amsterdam, the family eventually survived the war in Soest. From 1942 to 1947 he studied at the Rijksacademie voor Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. From 1948 to 1953 he studied the practice of illustration and typography in the studio of Lettergieterij Amsterdam. From 1957 to 1982 he was a teacher at the Royal Academy of Art and Design-Hertogenbosch. In 1973, 1980, and 1984 he was a professor at the Internationale Sommerakademie für bildende Kunst in Salzburg, and also held visiting professorships in Essen, Antwerp and Jerusalem. In addition to being a painter, he was mainly a draughtsman. Löb died on June 1, 2015 at the age of 89. The Jewish Museum in Berlin has included a collection of his work in its collection.

Work
As an illustrator of a large number of books, he has gained international fame. His drawings are reminiscent of the caricatures of Honoré Daumier. From 1979 to 1998 he was the illustrator of a series of twenty books that were published by the Zetcentrale Meppel in a limited edition (less than 500 copies) as a New Year's gift, mainly translations of Russian literature. In 1994 Kurt Löb obtained his doctorate at the University of Amsterdam with his dissertation "Shaping Exile" on German booksellers in the period 1932-1950.

Awards

 * Gutenberg-Preis of the city Leipzig (1993)
 * Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau (1993)

Books that feature illustrations by Löb (seleted works)

 * Lublin Thousand Artist, Isaac Bashevis Singer, 1966
 * La Maison Tellier, Guy de Maupassant, 1970
 * Mademoiselle Fifi, Guy de Maupassan t, 1979
 * Two Stories, O. Henry, 1980
 * The Portrait, J.N. Gogol, 1981
 * De Njevsky Prospekt, J.N. Gogol, 1982
 * Bibliomania, Gustave Flaubert, 1982
 * From the Diary of a Madman, N.Gogol, 1983
 * The Cloak, N. Gogol, 1984
 * Queen of Spades, A. Pushkin, 1985
 * The Stories of the Late Ivan Petrovich Baykin I, A. Pushkin, 1986
 * The Stories of the Late Ivan Petrovich Baykin II, A. Pushkin, 1987
 * The Kiss, A. Chekhov, 1988
 * The Red Flower, V.M. Garshin, 1989
 * Story about the moon that could not be blown out, B. Pilnjak, 1990
 * The Lady with the Dog, A. Chekhov, 1991
 * Three Stories, A. Chekhov, 1994

Zetcentrale Meppel (later known as Grafimedia) books that feature illustrations by Löb (seleted works)

 * Mademoiselle Fifi, Guy de Maupassan t, 1979
 * Two Stories, O. Henry, 1980
 * The Portrait, J.N. Gogol, 1981
 * De Njevsky Prospekt, J.N. Gogol, 1982
 * From the Diary of a Madman, N.Gogol, 1983
 * The Cloak, N. Gogol, 1984
 * Queen of Spades, A. Pushkin, 1985
 * The Stories of the Late Ivan Petrovich Baykin I, A. Pushkin, 1986
 * The Stories of the Late Ivan Petrovich Baykin II, A. Pushkin, 1987
 * The Kiss, A. Chekhov, 1988
 * The Red Flower, V.M. Garshin, 1989
 * Story about the moon that could not be blown out, B. Pilnjak, 1990
 * The Lady with the Dog, A. Chekhov, 1991
 * The House with the Landing, A. Chekhov, 1992
 * The Butterfly, A. Chekhov, 1993
 * Three Stories, A. Chekhov, 1994
 * First Love, I.S. Turgenev, 1995
 * Das Endspiel, H. Schirneck, 1996
 * Asha, I.S. Turgenev, 1996
 * The Lady Macbeth from Mtesenk, N. Leskov, 1997
 * A busy life, Manuel van Loggum, 1998

Literature

 * Oeuvre catalogue Kurt Löb, book artist, 1984