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ABOUT

Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman

Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman, who is usually referred to as H.N. Werkman, was born in 1882 in Leens, The Netherlands. He died in 1945 in Bakkeveen, The Netherlands. He was a well-known Dutch artist, typographer and printer. In 1908, he founded a printing and publishing house in Groningen. It closed in 1923, but Werkman started anew with a small workshop in the attic of a warehouse. Werkman was a member of the artists' group De Ploeg, for which he printed posters, invitations and catalogues. From 1923 to 1926, he produced his own English-named avant-garde magazine The Next Call, which, like other works of the period, included collage-like experimentation with typefaces, printing blocks and other printers' materials. He also used stenciling and stamping to achieve unique effects.

Regarding his death, I cite Wikipedia: In May 1940, soon after the German invasion of the Netherlands, Werkman, together with his friend August Henkels and others, began publishing a series of Hassidic stories from the legend of the Baal Shem Tov through their clandestine publishing house De Blauwe Schuit ("The Blue Barge"). Running to forty publications, all designed and illustrated by Werkman, the series was a subtly rebellious commentary on the Nazi occupation and a call for spiritual resistance. On 13 March 1945, the Gestapo arrested Werkman, executing him by firing squad along with nine other prisoners near the village of Bakkeveen on 10 April, three days before Groningen was liberated. Many of his paintings and prints, which the Gestapo had confiscated, were lost in the fire that broke out during the battle between German and Canadian forces over the city.

Several typefaces were made that were inspired by Werkman. There are also entire web site and exhibitions dedicated to Werkman---see, e.g., the site of Bunker Type (Jesus Morentin) in Barcelona. A partial list of revival typefaces:

• Werkman (1996, Lewis Tsalis, T26).
• Werkman Letterpress (2009, Benoît Santiard) is a font designed from letterpress woodblocks. It was inspired by the first issue of the magazine The Next Call (1923) by H.N. Werkman.

Groninger Museum link.

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