Together with Karel Leroux, Maurice Roelants, and Richard Minne, he founded the magazine "'t Fonteintje" (1921-1924) in 1921 as a reaction against expressionism. It is striking that the first issue lacks a single statement of principles; only in a separate supplement, the editors specify: "We refrain from all lyrical proclamations and promises." Against the pathos, the cosmic ideal, and the "boisterousness" of humanitarian expressionism, 't Fonteintje posited its sense of the relative, its irony, its earthly limitations, and its modesty. These are all essential traits inherent in the four editors, but the dosage of these ingredients naturally varied from one individual to the next.
