Original pen and ink cartoon of French Athletics by Willem Van Hasselt 1913-14

VAN HASSELT, Willem (1882-1963). Original Pen and Ink Cartoon of a French Athletics Meeting, c.1913-14.
 
Original pen and ink drawing on a long narrow sheet of paper, 360 x 100 mm, signed by Van Hasselt at lower right. Several small editorial markings in blue pencil, with light handling marks, minor creasing and some marginal soiling. Very Good.
 
An original sporting cartoon by the Dutch-born artist Willem van Hasselt, depicting a group of runners and officials at a French athletics meeting. The principal joke concerns a runner named Jacob, who had dominated his heat but didn't perform well in the final when confronted with the heels of better athletes Maurice, Dantigny and several others. Maurice is identified as the winner, while another vignette shows M. Simon acting as starter.
 
Among the runners is "Dantigny", almost certainly Rene Dantigny (1889-1914), one of the leading French middle-distance runners from the time this cartoon was composed. He was French 800 metres champion in both 1913 and 1914. Dantigny was killed in action during the First World War at the age of 24. The drawing therefore appears to date from around the final year of his short athletic career.
 
Willem van Hasselt was born in Rotterdam and studied at the Rotterdam Academy of Fine Arts before moving to Paris in 1903. A keen sportsman as well as an artist, he played football for Sparta Rotterdam and Racing Club de France. During his early years in France and London he earned money drawing for newspapers and advertising, and was active as a press cartoonist before concentrating increasingly on painting. During the First World War, while still a Dutch citizen, he served as an ambulance driver with the French Army. He later became a French citizen and was elected to the Academie des Beaux-Arts in 1945. An attractive original cartoon, retaining contemporary editorial markings suggesting preparation for publication.