The Flemish artist Frank-Ivo van Damme grew up in Merksem, a northern suburb of Antwerp, and studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, and then at the Higher Institute for Fine Arts under the direction of Gustaaf de Bruyne, René de Coninck, Jos Hendrickx, Mark F. Severin and Franck Mortelmans, graduating in 1962. He was the founder and publisher of the youth magazine Pijpkruid (Pipeweed) from 1948 to 1958, and founder of the Vrije Vesper Tekenschool Merksem, which developed into the Municipal Academy for Plastic Arts, where he was director until 1992.

Frank-Ivo started his commercial artistic career as a comic strip artist, his first comic appearing in 1953 for the student magazine Deze Tijd (These Times) in Leuven, but his real debut was in 1962 with the drawing of De Plastieken Uil (The Plastic Owl) in Het Weekblad. He based the main character, Bart, on himself.

Nowadays he is known worldwide for his individual graphics, above all for his ex libris in wood and copper engraving, of which he has created more than eight hundred. Many of his engravings have an erotic flavour, and are very popular among collectors. His interest in world literature is clearly apparent in his work, using elements from Greek and Roman mythology, which are often beautifully present in his drawings. Frank-Ivo also recognises how important the design of the accompanying text can be to support his artwork, and always seeks a balance between these two elements.

Frank-Ivo’s website, which he shares with his partner and fellow artist the calligrapher Joke van den Brandt, can be found here.

We are very grateful to our Russian friend Yuri for suggesting the inclusion of this artist, and for supplying most of the images.