Museum’s 1920 Novel in Woodcuts Conserved for Exhibition
September 29, 2015
On the heels of your wonderful talk on Saturday, thank you Audrie Schell at McMaster Libraries for restoring yet another Book of Hours – this one, a beautiful 1920 novel in pictures, Frans Masereel’s Mein Stundenbuch (My Book of Hours, later titled Passionate Journey) Edition 319/650.
Frans Masereel (Belgian, 1889-1972) was a pacifist, a translator for the International Red Cross in Geneva, and a political cartoonist for the newspaper La Feuille 1917-20. He is widely acknowledged as the father of the wordless novel.
Mein Stundenbuch, arguably his greatest work, comprises 167 woodcuts. The German edition went on to sell over 100,000 copies in Europe and later editions included an introduction by Thomas Mann, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1929. Two woodblock images, considered scandalous, were removed in later editions.
McMaster’s copy of the book returned to the Museum of Art yesterday and will soon be Alberta bound. The book will be displayed in the exhibition, Living Building Thinking: Art and Expressionism opening at the Art Gallery of Alberta in October and at McMaster Museum of Art in fall 2016.
Fall 2026 Exhibitions at the McMaster Museum of Art
September 4, 2026
Connected Histories, Research, and Archives—Interview with Nnamdi Nnake
September 1, 2026
What stories can the telegraph tell? More than a century after telegraph lines began to stretch across Nigeria, Connected Histories: The Telegraph in Nigeria invites visitors to take a fresh look at a technology that helped shape modern communications, colonial governance, labour, and everyday life. Drawing on the doctoral research of McMaster University PhD candidate Nnamdi Nnake, the exhibition brings together rare artifacts, archival […]
M(M)A Education Staff Teresa Gregorio Shortlisted in City of Hamilton’s Arts Champion Awards
June 23, 2026
Please join us in congratulating M(M)A’s Educator for Campus & Community Engagement, Teresa Gregorio, for being shortlisted in the Arts Champion Awards in City of Hamilton’s Arts Award 2026. The Arts Champion Awards may be conferred annually to living individuals who are outstanding supporters of the arts in Hamilton as volunteers, advocates, or board members. […]
