RED MAN: Where were you born?

 

POL LEURS: I was born on 27 September 1947 in the city of Luxembourg. Our capital and our country have the same name.

 

RED MAN: What was your childhood like? Are there any events related to art?

 

POL LEURS: Fortunately, I had a happy childhood. There were several events that motivated me to paint and draw. Of course, there were drawing lessons at elementary school, but my dear mother seemed to have recognized my talent early on. She always praised and encouraged me as a child. I am still very grateful to her for that today.

 

RED MAN: When did you start drawing?

 

POL LEURS: As I said, it all started in my childhood and I have always had a lot of fun with this art. At that time there were already some humoristic hints in some of my drawings.

 

RED MAN: Have you ever studied at an art school?

 

POL LEURS: No, I didn't go to art school. I attended various evening classes to learn and improve my watercolor technique. One of my teachers was the well-known Belgian watercolorist Michel Demart, who was living in Luxembourg at the time.

 

RED MAN: Did you start creating cartoon at that time?

 

POL LEURS: I started publishing cartoons at the end of the 1970s. I was very lucky because at that time I was invited to publish full-page black and white cartoons in the Luxembourgish magazine REVUE. I illustrated the cover of FORUM magazine for a few years. Back then, I created quite regularly and a lot. I often took old black and white drawings and turned them into color.

 

RED MAN: We would like to know when you decided to become an artist? Is your family full of artistic atmosphere?

 

POL LEURS: Being a cartoonist was and still is a hobby for me, because I had a family to look after. So just being an artist seemed far too risky from a financial point of view. So I have remained an engineer all my life (although now retired), in other words not a professional artist. Besides, our country is far too small to allow cartoonists a professional career.

 

RED MAN: What do your family and friends think of your choice to "make a living through art"? To what extent do they support you?

 

POL LEURS: My family and friends have always supported and accompanied me on the path I have chosen.

 

RED MAN: What is your family background?

 

POL LEURS: I had a loving and caring mother and, from my point of view, a tolerant father and I always had my freedom. I'm very grateful to both of them for that, but sadly, I can't tell them that now.

 

RED MAN: When did you start creating international cartoon works and participating in international cartoon competitions? Did any special issues or events ignite your inspiration and start a new creative path?

 

POL LEURS: In fact, my brother-in-law had encouraged me to take the big step of publishing my drawings in some way. This gradually developed into participation in international competitions. My first participation was in 1979 in Knokke-Heist where I unfortunately missed the deadline. Shortly afterwards came Cartoon-Berlin where I won my first prize in 1980. Then came Kruishoutem in Belgium in 1983 and that's when the prizes really started. I am now lucky enough to have won 83 national and international prizes, including 19 first prizes.

 

RED MAN:We understand that your work appears to be ingeniously conceived, with clean and exquisite visuals, cute character designs, fresh colors, and distinctive features. How did you develop your own style?

 

POL LEURS: My current works are drawn exclusively in watercolor and ink, for which I take a lot of time for preparation and execution. I attach great importance to meticulous preparation so that as little as possible goes wrong during execution. The proportions, the color scheme, the perspective, the figures, everything has to be right in order to produce a pleasing picture with, of course, a good idea. When working with watercolors, it is particularly important to choose the right sequence of colors. My drawing is often created entirely in my head before I sit down at my drawing table.

As a self-taught artist, my style has mainly developed from a good sense of humorous art and a love of watercolor. In a world where there is often little to laugh about, I try to cheer people up a little with my cartoons.

 

RED MAN: What is on your mind when you are painting?

 

POL LEURS: My head has to be absolutely clear before I start working. My work is accompanied by inner peace, absolute silence and lots of light. Sometimes I also listen to soft classical music, preferably Mozart.

 

RED MAN: There is no text in your work. Do you oppose the use of text? Do you think there is always a way to convey information or ideas purely from images?

 

POL LEURS: I am an opponent of text and even more so of subtitles in cartoons. I believe that the image itself should express everything necessary. Occasionally I use text bubbles, but only to enable the execution of a good idea.

 

RED MAN: What artists or works have influenced you in the process of forming your unique style? You can give an example, for example, show the two or three works that you think have had the greatest impact on you to everyone.

 

POL LEURS: Especially the illustrators Claude Serre and Tomi Ungerer, but also Jan Sanders, Carl Giles and still today Gerhard Glück and Gerhard Haderer. As a child, I always loved the funny drawings of Wilhelm Busch. I also greatly admired the wonderful works of impressionist painters such as Claude Monet and Alfred Sisley, which had a great influence on my art.

 

RED MAN: When did Luxembourg cartoon originate? What are the representative cartoonists? You can tell us about them.

 

POL LEURS: Well-known cartoonists and press illustrators were the Luxembourgers Albert Simon (1901-1956) and François Didier (1931-2016).

 

RED MAN: Where do you think the world's cartoon originated from? When is the origin time?

 

POL LEURS: The British satirical magazine PUNCH (founded in 1841) printed the first cartoons as we know them today. PUNCH also coined the term cartoon in the English language, which then became the regular term for humorous drawings.

 

RED MAN: We know that Luxembourg art is very distinctive. How has the development of Luxembourg cartoon been? Are there many professional cartoonists in Luxembourg? How is their living condition?

 

POL LEURS: Luxembourgish cartoonists who publish regularly can practically be counted on the five fingers of one hand. The best known are Carlo Schneider and my friend Roger Leiner, who unfortunately died too soon. The Romanian Florin Balaban, who lives in Luxembourg, has made a name for himself as a caricaturist, cartoonist and press illustrator. He organizes the annual International Contest of Caricature and Cartoon of Vianden, for which I am a member of the jury. Unfortunately, humorous art in Luxembourg generally receives too little attention and is not promoted enough.

 

RED MAN: Are there many cartoon publications, magazines, and newspapers in Luxembourg? How did they reach the hands of the readers?

 

POL LEURS: A new magazine with Luxembourgish cartoons will probably be published in March 2025. It is a new edition of the former magazine PULPS which is now published again under the name FANZINE. There are several books on Luxembourgish humorous art, in particular the book HUMORISTIC LUXEMBOURG, which I contributed to. I myself have published five books with a selection of my works.

 

RED MAN: What is people's definition of cartoon? Do people like cartoon? Especially do schools and parents allow children to read cartoon?

 

POL LEURS: I would describe the general interest of the Luxembourg population in cartoons as rather modest. The situation is quite different in our neighboring countries Belgium and France. Belgium is known for its humorous cartoons, while France tends to be more interested in biting press cartoons.

 

RED MAN: Are there many derivative products of cartoon in Luxembourg, and do cartoon images often appear on products? Do people like these products?

 

POL LEURS: Cartoons on products are rather rare in Luxembourg. However, I am lucky enough to have been commissioned by a Luxembourg mustard producer to illustrate their jars with funny cartoons.

 

RED MAN: In Luxembourg, whether it is primary school, secondary school, or university, are there any specialized courses in cartoon? What are the ways people learn cartoon?

 

POL LEURS: Unfortunately, there are no institutions that offer special courses in cartooning. In Belgium, for example, there are very well-known art academies that offer such courses. My colleagues in Luxembourg are almost self-taught.

 

RED MAN: I heard that you have a cartoon museum? Please introduce your cartoon museum to your readers. For example, how large is the cartoon museum? How many works can be exhibited simultaneously? How many collections does the museum have? What are the works of world-renowned cartoon artists? What are the characteristics of museums? Is it open to the public, etc? What will your cartoon museum look like in the future?

 

POL LEURS: The cartoon museum founded by my colleague Florin Balaban in the town of Vianden no longer exists, which is a great pity. Various interesting collections and a selection of works from the International Contest of Caricature and Cartoon were permanently on display there. 

 

RED MAN: What cultural heritage is there in  Luxembourg? Do government departments and people attach great importance to these cultural heritages? What is people's understanding of these cultural heritages? What impact does cultural heritage have on you?

 

POL LEURS: As far as I know, there was support from the municipality of Vianden but unfortunately not enough from the Luxembourg government to keep this private initiative alive.

 

RED MAN: What have people done to protect these cultural heritages? (Specific measures and promotion methods.) What role has cartoons played in cultural heritage protection? What role do you think cartoons can play in the protection of cultural heritage in the future?

 

POL LEURS: Unfortunately, cartoons do not have the recognition they deserve in Luxembourg and hardly play a role as cultural heritage. I very much regret that.

 

RED MAN: This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the world anti fascist movement.  What is the understanding of Luxembourg youth towards the 80th anniversary of the victory of the world anti fascist movement? What educational measures does Luxembourg have in this regard? Have Luxembourg cartoonists produced any anti Fascist cartoon works over the past 80 years?

 

POL LEURS: None of this applies, which is a shame. There are political cartoons but hey are rather soft, i.e. not very aggressive and certainly not against fascism and other grievances in the world. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that our country and its citizens are not directly affected?

 

RED MAN: Are there any commemorative facilities in Luxembourg for the victory of the anti fascist movement? What are the regular commemorative activities?

 

POL LEURS: Fascism is currently not an issue in Luxembourg. However, there are regular commemorative events to remember the end of the Nazi era from the Second World War. Our country heroically resisted this oppression from our German neighbors.

 

RED MAN: What other hobbies do you have in your life?

 

POL LEURS: Cycling, working in our flower garden and walking in the beautiful Luxembourgish forests.

 

RED MAN: If you weren't an artist, what would you do?

 

POL LEURS: I would certainly concentrate more on my other hobbies, which also fulfill me a lot.

 

RED MAN: What do you want to say to people who like your work?

 

POL LEURS: I am very grateful to the fans of my humorous art and am very happy when my works are well received by people.

 

RED MAN: What advice do you have for young cartoon artists who respect you and take you as an example? What would you say to your respected colleagues? What would you say to readers who like your work? What would you say to readers who don't understand humor? Besides, what advice do you give yourself? What advice do you give me?

 

POL LEURS: I support young people who are interested in humorous drawing as much as I can. I advise them to pick up a drawing pencil as often as possible, to contact like-minded artists, to develop their own personal style as early as possible and not to be discouraged by any setbacks at exhibitions, job interviews, competitions, etc. I have a great deal of respect for my colleagues and keep in touch with some of them on a regular basis, whether privately or at meetings with their exhibitions or competitions.

I hold my colleagues in high esteem and have regular contact with some of them, be it on a private level or at meetings at their exhibitions, juries or award ceremonies. There is recognition and absolute mutual respect, even friendship.

Of course, there are people who have no sense of humour and therefore they don't understand it. When this is the case, there is nothing you can do about it. It is therefore very important to introduce children to art at an early age and to get them excited about it.

 

RED MAN: Without a doubt, you have succeeded. I know you are happy with what you have done.

Lastly, thank you for your trust and support in our interview!

 

POL LEURS: Many thanks on my part too. It's the most detailed and longest interview I've ever given, it was very interesting.

And yes, you are absolutely right. I'm very happy with what I've achieved in my life and almost everything I've done so far.