Martin van Maële (? - 1926)
Profile
Belgian artist and student from Felicien Rops. Martin van Maele was a creator of differing erotic series that are known for their satiric esprit. He worked exclusively on erotic art. Although we know little about his personal life, his professional was more accessibel as a parralled that a Charles Carrigton, the most important publisher of erotic literatur. They worked together between 1895 and 1918 in Paris and Brussels. --http://www.loriginedumonde.de/content/list_century.php?lang=en¢ury=20 [Feb 2005]
For 26 years Martin van Maële (who also used the pseudonym A. Van Troizem) worked, at least part time, as an illustrator of both erotic and non-erotic literature. The first book known to contain Maële's illustrations was possibly, La Légende des sëxes, published in 1883. However, it's more likely it was one of three books published in 1901.
Between 1901 and 1907 Martin van Maele illustrated work almost exclusively published by Charles Carrington, mainly erotic in nature. During that period Van Maele also illustrated works by H.G. Wells, and at least four Sherlock Holmes books published by Félix Juven.
When Carrington was expelled from France in 1907, Van Maele began illustrating work that was mainly published by Jules Chevrel. It's interesting to note that between 1909 and 1918, van Maele's work only appeared in 5 books; and of those books only one was published during World War 1 (1914-1918), La Religieuse in 1916. Was Martin van Maele a soldier in the war?
Beginning in 1919 until his death in 1926, Van Maele illustrated 11 more books, most of which were published by Jean Fort and Fort's publishing imprint "Collection des Orties Blanches".
Martin van Maële died in 1926 while working on the drawings for Les Dialogues --http://www.eroticabibliophile.com/illustrators_vanmaele.html [Feb 2005]