Jean DRATZ (1903-1967): The mill at Lathem-Saint-Martin.

Jean Dratz is a Belgian artist. He was born in Mont-Saint-Guibert in 1903 and died in Uccle in 1967. He was the son and pupil of Constant Dratz. Jean Dratz was a painter, draftsman, illustrator and graphic designer. He studied law and economics at the University of Brussels. He produced landscapes (of snow) with austere graphic lines, reminiscent of both photographic precision and Japanese graphics and which exude a certain melancholy. The Ardennes plateau, the Brabant hills as well as the Flemish plain and the coastal region inspired him to a fixed work. His attention to detail, the sharpness of the drawing, the sensitivity to color, the poetic atmosphere and the depth of the landscapes are sometimes reminiscent of Bruegel or De Saedeleer. Impressions from trips to France and Italy were also mentioned. He also became known as a caricaturist and illustrator. He was co-founder of Mine Souriante, an association of Belgian cartoonists. Sometimes on called him the Belgian Dubout. Jean Dratz decorated the Brazil and Chile pavilions for the 1935 World's Fair, the Congo pavilion in 1958 and also designed theater sets. It is mentioned in BAS I and Two centuries of signatures of Belgian artists. (Piron)