'Genoveva van Brabant' (Kuifje #49, 1947).
Tonet Timmermans was a Belgian illustrator and painter. She was the first woman to create comics and illustrations for the legendary Belgian comic magazine Kuifje/Tintin. Besides illustrating stories by her famous brother Gommaar Timmermans (better known as GoT), she personally created the biographical comic 'Geneviève de Brabant' (1947-1948), After 1951, she retired from comics and illustration and devoted her life to painting.
Early life and career
Antoinette Timmermans, nicknamed Tonet, was born in 1926 in Lier, near Antwerp, as the third daughter of writer Felix Timmermans (1886-1947). Like their father, all the Timmermans siblings later worked in creative professions. Tonet's oldest sister Lia (1920-2002) became a children's book writer, her other sister Clara (1922-2016) a writer, singer and poet. Her younger brother, born four years after her, was the future comic artist Gommaar Timmermans (1930-2023).
In adulthood, Tonet became a painter, illustrator and comic artist. She was a pupil of the painter Joris Minne and thanks to her father's circle of friends, she also got to know the painter and graphic artist Staf De Bruyne very well. The Second World War prevented her from continuing her studies, but she was able to take more lessons under tutorship of the fine art painter Oscar van Rompay. Along with Elisabeth Ivanowsky, Hélène van Coppenolle and Hélène van Raemdonck, Timmermans was one of several illustrators to liven up the pages of her father's children's stories, 'Vertelsels voor Janneke en Mieke' (Snoeck Ducaju en Zoon, Gent, 1943). Tonet's illustrations appeared in the story 'De Dag der Dieren'.
Tonet in an artist presentation in Kuifje #39, 1947.
Tintin
In 1947, Tonet Timmermans was the first female author to work for the comic magazine Tintin and its Dutch-language edition Kuifje. The legendary magazine had been launched in the previous year by publisher Raymond Leblanc and comic creator Hergé. To achieve a firmer fanbase among the Flemish readers, Kuifje editor Karel Van Milleghem recruited Dutch-speaking authors to create comic serials and illustrated stories based on local history and literature. Besides Tonet Timmermans, also Bob De Moor and Willy Vandersteen became important contributors to the magazine. While some of the stories illustrated by Timmermans appeared only in the Flemish edition Kuifje, much of her work also ran in the parent magazine Tintin. Between 1947 and 1951, she made several cover drawings and illustrations for fairy tales and other stories, mostly written by her sister Lia or brother Gommaar. Her most notable work, however, was the picture story biography 'Genoveva van Brabant'/'Geneviève de Brabant' (1947-1948), about Belgian folkloric heroine and Catholic saint Genevieve de Brabant. This story ran in both the Flemish and Walloon editions of Tintin.
In addition to Tintin/Kuifje, Tonet Timmermans also illustrated stories for Ons Volkske, a budget comic magazine also produced by the Tintin team. For this magazine, she illustrated for instance 'Jan Zevenslag' (1950), 'Kroes' (1950), 'De Opperdief' (1950), 'Malle Hans' (1950) and 'Scheve Nante' (1951), all written by her brother Gommaar.
Later life and death
Later in life, Tonet Timmermans married Engelbird Meyer, a South African psychiatrist. She spent eight years living with him in his home country. Meyer died at an early age, prompting her to move back to Europe. She spent a couple of years in London, before moving in with her sister Lia who lived in Ostend, Belgium. Tonet has spent the majority of her life making paintings depicting flowers, portraits and landscapes in South Africa and the Belgian cities Lier and Ostend. She additionally designed plates, puppets, glasswork, clothing and furniture. Often categorized as a so-called naïve painter, Tonet Timmermans claimed that she "draws what she knows, rather than what she sees." Thanks to her father's fame, she has been the subject of several exhibitions in Flanders, both solo shows or in combination with her cartoonist brother Gommaar. In 2020, she passed away at age 94, in a rest home in Assebroek.
Cover illustration for Tintin magazine, 10 July 1947.