'Jonker Fris en het Gestolen Smulboekje' (1962).
Jan van der Sanden was a Dutch illustrator, cartoonist and advertising artist, working under the pen names "Sanden" or "Maurice". In 1962, he was the artist of three promotional comic booklets for Jonker Fris canned food.
Life and work
For many years, only the signature of "Sanden" was known, as it appeared on the covers and interior pages of the 'Jonker Fris' booklets. Research in old newspapers through the Dutch site Delpher.nl revealed more about the identity of this mysterious artist, most notably articles in the 28 May 1959 and 10 November 1960 editions of the local newspaper Eindhovens(ch) Dagblad. The artist's full name was Jan Maurice van der Sanden, born in the Woensel district of Eindhoven. At the time of the late 1960 article, he was 26 years old, so he was presumably born in 1934. According to records on MyHeritage.com, an illustrator/designer called Johannes ("Jan") Lambertus Cornelius van der Sanden was born in Eindhoven on 31 January 1934.
Illustrations for an illustrated report about a trip through France (Ons Noorden, 24 September 1955).
Jan van der Sanden was trained during evening courses at the Eindhoven Arts and Crafts school, and then attended the Academy in Amsterdam. He began his career as an assistant with an advertising firm, before becoming a press cartoonist. During the 1950s, he was an artist affiliated with the Noorderpers, a Catholic press group responsible for Dutch regional newspapers like Nieuw Noord-Hollands Dagblad, Ons Noorden and Overijssels Dagblad. In September 1955, Van der Sanden for instance joined a journalist of Ons Noorden on a trip through France, which they chronicled in words and images. Eventually, Van der Sanden returned to his hometown of Eindhoven, where he worked as illustrator, painter, cartoonist, filmmaker and limerick writer.
Jan van der Sanden, working on painted triptych with the Greek sun god Helios for a division of a Dutch firm for lighting material in Antwerp, Belgium (Eindhovensch Dagblad, 28 May 1959).
From his home address at Mecklenburgstraat 19 in Eindhoven, he ran his own commercial art firm under the banner "Sanden, Erkend Reclame-, Advies- en Advertentiebureau N.V.". One of the newspaper articles said that he gained "both national and international fame" as illustrator and advertising artist (under the name "Sanden") and as cartoonist (under the name "Maurice"). His drawings appeared in all sorts of illustrated magazines, including a couple from Japan. One of his notable jobs was making a calendar for the paint industry. In Eindhovensch Dagblad, his drawings supported a 1959 Catholic benefit campaign for a jungle hospital in Jabalpur, India. During this period, Jan van der Sanden was also active as an illustrator for children's books, for instance for the book 'Li'ing de Kleine Dajak' by P.J. van Emburg for the publishing house West-Friesland.
Cartoon made for Sanden's 1960 short film 'Mensen in blik' (Eindhovens Dagblad, 10 November 1960).
By the time of the November 1960 article, Sander was also trying his hand at filmmaking - he had just completed a short about knights - mixing live action with cartoon art. His cameraman was called Piet van Hout, also from Eindhoven. The trigger for the Eindhovens Dagblad article was Sanden's attempt at submitting a script to a West-Berlin movie company. It is not known if his German adventure ever took off. Under the name "Maurice Sanden", the artist was mentioned in the 15 October 1960 issue of Eindhovens Dagblad with regard to an exposition in the "Kunst- en Antiekcentrum Schevelingen" in the town Aarle-Rixtel. His exposition consisted of paintings, drawings and "little jokes". The paper praised Sanden for his "ingenuity and decorative feel", described his large paintings as surreal and deemed his cartoons "pleasant", but "with a predictable pattern."
Between 1963 and at least 1994, Van der Sanden lived in the village of Leende. According to artindex.nl, he was active as an illustrator and designer until 1970, and then switched to painting. Using a variety of techniques, recurring subjects in his naturalist and figurative paintings were circus life, street musicians and fairgrounds.
The three 1962 'Jonker Fris' comic books.
Jonker Fris
Within comic circles, the artist Sanden is best-known for his work on the 'Jonker Fris' comic books. During the 1950s and 1960s, the traditional Dutch grocery stores were gradually replaced by supermarkets. While placing its products in these new self-service stores, the Van Wagenberg Festen factory in Heusden branded its canned foods Jonker Fris, with a nobleman in a 18th-century style wig and red costume as mascot. The character was also used in promotional activities, for instance in three 18-page comic booklets (made in 1962), that could be obtained by cutting out little coupons from the can labels and sending them to the factory. Advertisements for the three collector's items appeared in children's magazines like Taptoe and Donald Duck.
'Jonker Fris en de Maanmannetjes' (1962).
The three 'Jonker Fris' comics were lavishly signed by Sanden, and presented the adventures of the company mascot and his animal menagerie. In the first issue, 'Jonker Fris en het Gestolen Smulboekje' ("Nobleman Fresh and the Stolen Feast Booklet"), the nobleman's recipe for strawberry jam is stolen by two smoking starlings, and the ensuing recovery mission brings him around the world, encountering a whale, a giant, a native tribe and other exotic characters. In 'Jonker Fris en de Maanmannetjes' ("Nobleman Fresh and the Little Moon Men") - the second booklet - Jonker Fris gets the moon people interested in his canned foods. The third and final installment - 'Jonker Fris en Karel de Kampioen' ("Nobleman Fresh and Charles the Champion") had the nobleman organize a sports event.
Jan van der Sanden as filmmaker, presented in Eindhovens Dagblad of 10 November 1960.