Wednesday, February 09, 2011

 

Hans Horina: More Digging by Alex Jay

Reinicke and Horina, 1897
Little is known about Hans Horina's art training and career in Europe. There is a connection between Horina and fellow comic artist Emil Reinicke.

Reinicke was a German artist born on November 20, 1859 and passed away in 1942, according to the German Wiki. Lambiek Comiclopedia also has a page on him.

In the periodical Fliegende Blätter, Nro. 2702, 7 Mai 1897 (Flying Sheets, Number 2702, May 7, 1897), on pages 186 and 187, there is a five-panel cartoon. In the lower right-hand corner of the fifth panel are the names, "H. Horina (illegible), E. Reinicke (illegible).

Samples of Reinicke's work can be viewed at Andy's Early Comics Archive. The site has three pages from the book, "Der Durstige Jumbo" (Thirsty Jumbo), which was published in 1902. On the third page, in the upper left-hand corner, is the signature, "E. Reinicke nach Horina, 02."
Reinicke and Horina, 1902

What kind of relationship was this? Reinicke was six years older than Horina and, evidently, established as an illustrator and caricaturist before Horina. Was Reinicke the teacher and Horina the apprentice or was Reinicke a mentor to Horina?

A Reinicke collaboration with another artist, Karl Pomerhanz, was the cartoon "Ein Bubenstreich", printed in the January 22, 1897 issue of Fliegende Blätter 2687. Pomerhanz was two years older Reinicke, and, according to Lambiek, was a painter before turning to comic illustration. Was Pomerhanz an apprentice, too?

How much influence did Reinicke have on Pomerhanz and Horina, both of whom were recruited by the Chicago Tribune in 1906 for its new comics section? This trio certainly shared the same comic sensibility.

Reinecke and Pommerhanz, 1897
More Reinicke art and work by many more German artists can be seen in Volume 106 of Fliegende Blätter which can be previewed and downloaded at Google Books.



A Gallery of Hans Horina Postcards








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