M. A. F. Betting - Erich Maria Remarque

M. A. F. Betting (1909-1971)

The writer Erich Maria Remarque

1930s

Signed lower left “M.A.F. Betting”

Ink on paper

20.9 x 14.8 cm

Provenance:

Ubbens Art, Bussum.

Condition:

In good condition.

Additional information:

M.A.F. Betting (1909–1973) is a largely forgotten Dutch artist about whom little is known. In the 1930s Betting made Symbolist drawings in which influences of Jan Toorop and Carel de Nerée tot Babberich can be recognised. The works have a strongly allegorical and sometimes religious character and address themes such as life and death, love, struggle and suffering. In April 1938 Betting exhibited at Kunstkring De Wig on the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam. A particularly striking work from this period is Betting’s intriguing drawing of Erich Maria Remarque, an unexpected connection between Dutch Symbolist drawing and one of the most important writers of the interwar period.

Erich Maria Remarque (1898–1970) was a German writer best known for his powerful novels about war, loss and the consequences of violence. Born Erich Paul Remark in Osnabrück, he served on the Western Front during the First World War, where he was wounded. His experiences formed an important basis for his literary work. After the publication of All Quiet on the Western Front (1929), he became an internationally renowned author. The book was banned by the Nazis and publicly burned in 1933. Remarque left Germany and eventually settled in Switzerland and later the United States.

His most important work is All Quiet on the Western Front (1929), the moving novel about a young German soldier on the Western Front. The book became a worldwide bestseller and was filmed by Lewis Milestone in 1930. In 2022 a new Netflix adaptation of the novel appeared, directed by Edward Berger, which won four Oscars. Remarque’s work is characterised by a sober, direct style and a strong focus on the human consequences of war, displacement and political persecution.