Young Trier

Thursday 24 March 2011

Pictured, the illustrator Walter Trier, born in Prague in 1890. The photo comes from Humorist Walter Trier, an exhibition catalogue published by the Art Gallery of Ontario in 1980. As well as some of his drawings, mostly in black and white, the book contains photographs of toys from his collection, a detailed biography by Marta H. Hurdalek, and a translation of an obituary by Erich Kästner.


There is also this, from Trier’s own telling of his life story:

Our marriage was not without issue. A dog came into our family, a Scotch terrier of disgusting beauty. We named him Shaggy Bear, and he is Shaggy all over. People come from miles around just for a look at him. No one goes away disappointed. Shaggy Bear outstrips the wildest expectations. He is as brave as Achilles and as wise as Socrates. If there were a Pantheon in this country, I would certainly claim a pedestal for this dog. Another thing rather important to mention is that by and by my wife gave us a child...

Previously on the blog, Trier’s illustrations for A Salzburg Comedy and Die Konferenz der Tiere.

In those earlier posts I’d linked to the extensive German site dedicated to his work at walter-trier.de, and to Gillian Lathey’s essay (PDF) comparing the exile experiences of illustrators Walter Trier and Fritz Wegner.

For more images, Chris Mullen’s site, The Visual Telling of Stories, has a wonderful collection, including a comparison between Walter Trier’s 1931 illustrations for Erich Kästner’s Emil and the Detectives, and illustrations by another artist, Sax, for a 1950s edition. Below, one of Trier’s.

Humorist Walter Trier copyright © Art Gallery of Ontario, 1980.
Art copyright © the estate of Walter Trier.