Tomi Ungerer | |
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![]() Tomi Ungerer by Claude Truong-Ngoc (2014) | |
Born | Jean-Thomas Ungerer 28 November 1931 Strasbourg, Alsace, France |
Died | 8 February 2019 87) Cork, Ireland | (aged
Occupation | Artist, illustrator, writer |
Nationality | French |
Alma mater | Municipal School for Decorative Arts (Strasbourg) |
Period | 1957–2019 |
Genre | Children's picture books, erotic literature |
Notable works |
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Notable awards | Commander of the Legion d'Honneur (2018) Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration (1998) |
Relatives | Theodore Ungerer (father) Alice Ungerer (mother) Bernard (brother) Edith (sister) Vivette (sister) |
Jean-Thomas "Tomi" Ungerer (28 November 1931 – 8 February 2019) was a Alsatian artist and a writer. [1] [2] He published over 140 books ranging from children's books to adult works and from the fantastic to the autobiographical. He was known for sharp social satire and witty aphorisms. Ungerer is also famous as a cartoonist and designer of political posters and film posters. [3]
Ungerer received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1998 for his "lasting contribution" as a children's illustrator. [4] [5]
Ungerer was born in Strasbourg, France, [6] the youngest of four children to Alice (Essler) and Theo Ungerer. [7] [8] The family moved to Logelbach, near Colmar, after the death of Tomi's father, Theodore—an artist, engineer, and astronomical clock manufacturer—in 1936. Ungerer also lived through the German occupation of Alsace when the family home was requisitioned by the Wehrmacht. [9] [10]
Strasbourg is the capital and largest city of the Grand Est region of France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located at the border with Germany in the historic region of Alsace, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin department. In 2016, the city proper had 279,284 inhabitants and both the Eurométropole de Strasbourg and the Arrondissement of Strasbourg had 491,409 inhabitants. Strasbourg's metropolitan area had a population of 785,839 in 2015, making it the ninth largest metro area in France and home to 13% of the Grand Est region's inhabitants. The transnational Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau had a population of 915,000 inhabitants in 2014.
Colmar is the third-largest commune of the Alsace region in north-eastern France. It is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department and the arrondissement of Colmar-Ribeauvillé.
The Wehrmacht was the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy) and the Luftwaffe. The designation "Wehrmacht" replaced the previously used term Reichswehr, and was the manifestation of the Nazi regime's efforts to rearm Germany to a greater extent than the Treaty of Versailles permitted.
As a young man, Ungerer was inspired by the illustrations appearing in The New Yorker magazine, particularly the work of Saul Steinberg. [11] [12] In 1957, the year after he moved to the U.S., Harper & Row published his first children's book, The Mellops Go Flying, and his second, The Mellops Go Diving for Treasure; by the early 1960s he had created at least ten children's picture books with Harper, plus a few others, and had illustrated some books by other writers. He also did illustration work for publications including The New York Times , Esquire, Life , Harper's Bazaar , The Village Voice , [12] and for television during the 1960s, and began to create posters denouncing the Vietnam War. [9]
The New Yorker is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It is published by Condé Nast. Started as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is now published 47 times annually, with five of these issues covering two-week spans.
Saul Steinberg was a Romanian American cartoonist and illustrator, best known for his work for The New Yorker, most notably View of the World from 9th Avenue. He described himself as "a writer who draws".
The New York Times is an American newspaper based in New York City with worldwide influence and readership. Founded in 1851, the paper has won 125 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper. The Times is ranked 17th in the world by circulation and 2nd in the U.S.
Maurice Sendak called Moon Man (1966) "easily one of the best picture books in recent years." [13] After Allumette: A Fable , subtitled With Due Respect to Hans Christian Andersen, the Grimm Brothers, and the Honorable Ambrose Bierce in 1974, he ceased writing children's books, focusing instead on adult-level books, many of which focused on sexuality. He eventually returned to children's literature with Flix 1998. Ungerer donated many of the manuscripts and artwork for his early children’s books to the Children’s Literature Research Collection at the Free Library of Philadelphia. [14]
Maurice Bernard Sendak was an American illustrator and writer of children's books. He became widely known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, first published in 1963. Born to Jewish-Polish parents, his childhood was affected by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Sendak also wrote works such as In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There, and illustrated many works by other authors including the Little Bear books by Else Holmelund Minarik.
Allumette; A Fable, with Due Respect to Hans Christian Andersen, the Grimm Brothers, and the Honorable Ambrose Bierce, by Tomi Ungerer, was originally published in 1974. It is a "reimagining" of "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Andersen. The book's extended title references Andersen, for "The Little Match Girl", as well as fairy tale authors the Brothers Grimm, and satirist Ambrose Bierce. The book was initially published in 1974, and carried in the United States by Parents' Magazine Press and Scholastic, both bargain retailers. It was also briefly reprinted in 1986, but has since gone out of print again.
The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the 13th-largest public library system in the United States. Unique among public libraries in the United States, it is neither a city agency nor a nonprofit organization; instead, it is governed by both an independent city agency managed by its own board of directors and a separate nonprofit organization, The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation.
One consistent theme in Ungerer's illustrations is his support for European construction, beginning with Franco-German reconciliation in his home region of Alsace, and in particular European values of tolerance and diversity. In 2003, he was named Ambassador for Childhood and Education by the 47-nation Council of Europe. [15]
The Council of Europe is an international organisation whose stated aim is to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 47 member states, covers approximately 820 million people and operates with an annual budget of approximately half a billion euros.
In 2007, his home town dedicated a museum to him, the Musée Tomi Ungerer/Centre international de l’illustration . [13]
Ungerer divided his time between Ireland, where he and his wife had moved in 1976, [9] [16] and Strasbourg. [13] In addition to his work as a graphic artist and 'drawer', he was also a designer, toy collector and "archivist of human absurdity." [13]
A biographical documentary film, Far Out Isn't Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story , was produced in 2012. The film was featured at the 2013 Palm Springs International Film Festival. [17] In 2015–2016, the Kunsthaus Zurich and the Museum Folkwang in Essen devoted a large exhibition to Ungerer's artistic oeuvre and in particular his collages. [18] A comprehensive book has been published by Philipp Keel from Diogenes with essays by Tobias Burg, Cathérine Hug and Thérèse Willer. [19]
Ungerer died on 8 February 2019 in Cork, Ireland, aged 87. [6] [20] [21]
Tomi Ungerer described himself first and foremost as a story teller and satirist. Prevalent themes in his work include political satire (such as drawings and posters against the Vietnam War and against animal cruelty), eroticism, and imaginative subjects for children's books. [9] Ungerer's publications are held by the German National Library, including: [22]
The biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award conferred by the International Board on Books for Young People is the highest recognition available to a writer or illustrator of children's books. Ungerer received the illustration award in 1998. [4] [5]
Ungerer received the 2014 Lifetime Achievement of the Year award at the Sexual Freedom Awards. [23] In 2018, he was made a commander of the Legion of Honour. [6] [24]
Bernhard Schlink is a German lawyer, academic, and novellist. He is best known for his novel The Reader which was first published in 1995 and became an international bestseller.
Alois Carigiet was a Swiss graphic designer, painter, and illustrator. He may be known best for six children's picture books set in the Alps, A Bell for Ursli and its sequels, written by Selina Chönz, and three that he wrote himself. In 1966 he received the inaugural Hans Christian Andersen Medal for children's illustrators.
Meindert De Jong, sometimes spelled de Jong, DeJong or Dejong was a Dutch-born American writer of children's books. He won the international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1962 for his contributions as a children's writer.
Ungerer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
André François, born André Farkas, was a Hungarian-born French cartoonist.
Jutta Bauer is a German writer and illustrator of children's books. For her "lasting contribution" as a children's illustrator she received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 2010.
The Three Robbers is a children's book by Tomi Ungerer. There was a 6-minute animated adaptation released in 1972 by Gene Deitch.
The University of Findlay's Mazza Museum, formerly the Mazza Museum of International Art from Picture Books, is an art museum located at The University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio. It is devoted to illustrations from children's picture books.
John Burningham was an English author and illustrator of children's books, especially picture books for young children. He lived in north London with his wife Helen Oxenbury, another illustrator. His last published work was a husband-and-wife collaboration, There's Going to Be a New Baby, written by John and illustrated by Helen for "ages 2+".
The Cabinet des estampes et des dessins is a museum in Strasbourg in the Bas-Rhin department of France. It is dedicated to the municipal collection of prints (estampes) and drawings (dessins), but also woodcuts and lithographs, covering a period of five centuries from the 14th to the 19th. The municipal collections of graphic art since 1870 are displayed in the Musée d'art moderne et contemporain and in the Tomi Ungerer Museum.
Musée Tomi Ungerer/Centre international de l’illustration is a museum in Strasbourg in the Bas-Rhin department of France. Opened in November 2007, it is dedicated to the work of Strasbourg-born artist Tomi Ungerer and displays 8,000 graphic works of all kind by Ungerer and some of his most famous colleagues as well as Ungerer's large collection of ancient toys and regular, special exhibitions.
Jürg Schubiger was a Swiss psychotherapist and writer of children's books. He won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 1996 for Als die Welt noch jung war.
Ib Spang Olsen was a Danish writer and illustrator best known to generations of Danes for cartoons and illustrations, many of which appeared in children's publications. Those include a series of nursery rhyme books written by Halfdan Rasmussen, including "Halfdans ABC". He also wrote his own children's books, such as the whimsical tale of the seasons, The Marsh Crone's Brew. Olsen drew for newspapers, magazines, books, posters, television, and comics. For his lasting contribution as a children's illustrator Olsen received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1972.
Far Out Isn't Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story is a 2012 documentary film by American director Brad Bernstein. The documentary details the life and times of renegade children's book author and illustrator Tomi Ungerer. Far Out had its North American premiere at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.
William Rossa Cole was an American editor, anthologist, columnist, author, and writer of light verse. He produced around 75 books, most of them anthologies.
The Diogenes Verlag is a Swiss publisher in Zurich, founded in 1952 by Daniel Keel, with a focus on literature, plays and cartoons. It has been managed since 2012 by the founder's son, Philipp Keel.
Notable events of 2019 in comics. See also List of years in comics.
Hans Ulrich Steger was a Swiss caricaturist, children's author and artist.
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