Kirchner’s drawings for the French magazine Je sais tout
by Eric Verbist (Brussels)
Part II
In issue No. 83, something else is wrong. According to the table of contents, there should be 2 articles in this issue illustrated by Kirchner: the short story La Machine à extorquer la Vérité (pages 621-628, with 3 drawings by Kirchner), and Les Arsène Lupin de la Réalité by Maurice Level (pages 708-716, with 5 drawings by Kirchner). The last mention is clearly an editorial mistake. Actually, there are 7 and not 5 drawings illustrating this article by Level, 6 of which are most definitely not by Kirchner (they are the work of the illustrators Beaume and Géo Dupuis). On the other hand, it seems obvious the illustration on page 713, although not signed, is by Kirchner (see scan below). Very probably, this is a leftover illustration from Le Portrait du Kaiser published in the previous issue (No. 82).
As a matter of fact, the scene of a sleeping old man, approached by someone flashing a torch in his face, matches perfectly with the 4th paragraph of Le Portrait du Kaiser (Je sais tout N° 82, pages 440-441):
“M. Gargrave habitait au Berkely square, et nous le trouvons couché et endormi. (...) Mais, quels qu’ils fussent, ces rêves, ils se concentrèrent finalement en une impression de rayonnement intense ‐ tropical dans sa splendeur. Cette impression devint si réelle qu’il ouvrit les yeux, mais les referma aussitôt, blessé par la violence de la lumière. Il essaya encore, et aperçut enfin, tout près de lui, une lanterne en œil-de-bœuf derrière laquelle se dressait un personnage masqué.”
La Machine à extorquer la Vérité, Je sais tout No. 83, December 15, 1911 (pages 621-628).
In issue No. 84 (short story La Tabatière de Napoléon), the table of contents mentions 3 drawings by Kirchner. But at the end of the article, there is a 4th unsigned illustration of a cupid climbing out of a box. If this illustration is also by Kirchner, which is uncertain, then there are 4 drawings by Raphaël, not 3.
Finally, it is interesting to observe that these drawings are quite different from the art nouveau style Kirchner displays in most of his postcards. In the paper the French author Daniel Couégnas wrote about Je sais tout (Fiction et culture médiatique à la Belle Epoque dans le magazine Je sais tout (1905-1914), Mediatextes, Pulim, 2018), we learn that the drawings in Je sais tout were mostly copper engravings, printed by rotogravure (in French this technique is called héliogravure rotative). The author also stresses the fact that by means of a so-called wash (in French lavis) effect, the illustrators created a photographic illusion, which can sometimes be confusing (are we looking at a drawing or a photograph?).
From a stylistic point of view, the influence of symbolism seems undeniable in these illustrations. The mysterious, intimist and somewhat hazy scenes with heavy shadows are indeed quite typical for this artistic movement from the late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. It is a fine example of Kirchner’s artistic versatility; he definitely had more than one string on his bow!
La Tabatière de Napoléon, Je sais tout No. 84, January 15, 1912 (pages 765-773).
La Pièce de M. Pewter, Je sais tout No. 85, February 15, 1912 (pages 119-127).
Last updated on January, 30th, 2023