1. Ferdinand-Sigismond Bach, known as Ferdinand Bac, was a German-French cartoonist, artist and writer, son of an illegitimate nephew of the Emperor Napoleon.
19 Facts About Ferdinand Bac
1. 2.
Ferdinand Bac wrote voluminously about social, historical and political subjects, but his work has been largely forgotten.
3.
Ferdinand Bac's father, Karl Philipp Heinrich Bach, was a geologist, cartographer and landscape architect, the illegitimate son of Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia.
4.
Ferdinand Bac was introduced to the Parisian salon society by his godfather Arsene Houssaye and Prince Napoleon, and became a fashionable artist.
5.
Ferdinand Bac became one of the leading designers and cartoonists of his time, with a reputation equal to contemporaries such as Robida, Job, Sem, Jean-Louis Forain and Caran d'Ache.
6.
Ferdinand Bac's 1892 drawing Femmes Automatiques for La Vie Parisienne depicted a collection of women in different roles who could be animated by inserting a coin.
7.
Ferdinand Bac often drew pictures of models posing for artists that suggested an intimate relationship.
8.
Ferdinand Bac travelled widely through Europe, visiting Turkey, Sicily, Spain and Norway.
9.
Ferdinand Bac had a particular love for Germany, Austria and Italy.
10.
Ferdinand Bac was awarded the Legion of Honor in 1913, and recognized by the Academie francaise.
11.
Ferdinand Bac was over 50 when he discovered his vocation as a garden designer.
12.
Ferdinand Bac started sketching plans of arches, courtyards and gardens, and began work the next day.
13.
Ferdinand Bac painted the frescoes in the house and designed the Modernist furniture.
14.
Ferdinand Bac planned a garden around the house with pavilions, colonnades, bridges and secret gardens.
15.
From 1918 onward, when he was aged 60, Ferdinand Bac alternated between Colombieres and a beautiful mansion in Compiegne that belonged to the Ladan-Bockairys.
16.
Until the end of his life, Ferdinand Bac continued to travel, write and draw, reflecting on the political and historical development of the world.
17.
Ferdinand Bac was forced into exile in 1940 and saw some of his work go up in smoke in 1944.
18.
Ferdinand Bac's spirit was always alive, allowing him to draw and comment on the books that were sent to him.
19.
Ferdinand Bac died in Compiegne on 18 November 1952, aged 93, surviving his friend Emile Ladan-Bockairy by three days.