An Edited Reality - Danish newspaper caricature in French

The exhibitioon features work by Danish journalist and photographer Marinus Jacob Hjeldgaard (1884 - 1664), popularly known as Marinus.He lived in Paris in the 30s and produced photo montages of a highly satirical nature. Often of contemporary heads of states as, for instance, Hitler and Stalin. “Marianne” is the name of the French weekly paper which from 1932 - 1940 published more than 250 of Marinus’s famous photo montages. Often on the front page.

In 1909 the painter, Marinus Jacob Kjeldgaard, left Copenhagen and travelled to Paris and was never to return to Denmark – not even for a visit.

In Paris, almost in obscurity, he made a carreer of creating frontpages for the weeky magazines J’ai Vu (1915-1920) and Voila (1931-1932) and partucularly the weekly newspaper Marianne (1932-1940).

His mode of expression was the satirical and political photo montage and at the end of the 30’ties the dictators Franco, Stalin, Mussolini and not least Hitler and the leading nazies were the targets of his biting satire on the front pages of Marianne.

He created his commentaries with courage, acuteness and such a strong ability to analyse the political situation, that he often pre-empted events.

When the Germans took Paris in June 1940 the editorial staff of Marianne had to flee. Marinus went underground in Paris and in the ensueing years of chaos his montages were forgotten. Only within these last years have they been re-discovered.

The exhibition consists of the photo montages in Marianne, during the last 11 months before the German occupation of France, and the story of the newspaper.

Especilly well-known among Marinus’s work is the montages of Hitler’s head placed on top of a painter, which again has been placed on top of a biers tube.

Montages resemble actual events at first glance but Marinus’s work is thought through in detail and highly manipulated. Seen with the eyes of both his own time and our’s, the montages are extraordinarily daring, which is an important that the Danish photographer has a special place in photographic history: He had the courage to defy authoritarian power.

An Edited Reality
Danish newspaper caricature – in French
Marinus Jacob Kjeldgaard