Frans Masereel

In 1918, using blocks of wood, graver tools, and printers' ink, Flemish-born Frans Masereel developed an art form he called romans en images, or, novels in pictures—today we call them graphic novels. And though his career as an artist, anti-war activist, and advocate for human rights extended through to his death in 1972, it's Masereel's early work—and the broad reach of its influence on other artists—that has justly secured his reputation. Whether incorporating an allegory to tell of the fate of an idea in an oppressive patriarchal society or using a silent narrative to follow a man as he searches for love and meaning, only to find both in death and liberation, Masereel made a virtue of the limitations his medium imposed. Using a deft balance of highlight and shadow across compellingly composed scenes, Masereel created a pleasing, vibrant musicality on every page. Broad emotions usually associated with silent-film acting take center stage in these stories—the better to convey information—but the images are no less resonant or moving for it. No matter the context, Masereel artfully plumbed the charged contrasts of existence—the masses versus the individual, the wealthy versus the impoverished, the corrupt versus the innocent—to tell tales that don't need words to speak, and which still reach "readers" today.