European Masters

- Giraud - Moebius : Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (born 1938) is a French comics artist. Giraud has earned worldwide fame, not only under his own name but also under the pseudonym Moebius, and to a lesser extent Gir. The Lieutenant Blueberry character, created by Giraud and Charlier for Fort Navajo, quickly became its most popular character, and his adventures as told in the spin-off Western serial Blueberry, are possibly Giraud's best known work in his native France before his later collaborations with Alejandro Jodorowsky. In 1988 Moebius worked on the American comic character The Silver Surfer with Stan Lee for a special two-part limited series. Giraud began using the pen name Moebius in the 1960s (and he also signed the name Gir to some of his work) and that name would become as resonant as Kirby or Frazetta to scholarly souls within the Comic-Con sector. - Enki Bilal was born in Belgrades in 1951. He is the greatest living European artist, best known for the Nikopol trilogy. Bilal art pieces are rare and owning one of them is a privilege that I wanted to share with CAF members. - French comics legend Philippe Druillet, often considered as the most original artists in the comic book world, is a French comics artist born in France in 1944. He spent the first eight years of is life in Figueiras (Catalogne), Salvador Dali's town. He arrived in France after the death of his father (1952). He is also active in architecture, rock opera, painting, sculpture and digital art and. His work always played on science-fiction themes inspired by his favourite writers, H. P. Lovecraft and A.E. van Vogt. He is an innovator in visual design His first book (1966) entitled Le Mystère des abîmes (The Mystery of the Abyss) introduces his recurring hero Lone Sloane. After becoming a regular contributor to the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Pilote in 1970, Druillet's Lone Sloane saga grew steadily more flamboyant, as he pursued innovations including bold page designs and computer-generated images. His backdrops of gigantic structures inspired by Art Nouveau, Indian temples and Gothic cathedrals earned him the nickname of "space architect". In 1972, he illustrates the first fantasy novel by Umberto Eco: Stelle et Stellettes. The same year, Six tales about Sloane's exploits were collected in Les six voyages de Lone Sloane, hailed by many as his masterpiece, and Sloane was again the hero of the graphic novel Délirius (1973).. In 1973, Druillet also produced the Moorcock's Elric-inspired Yragaël for Pilote, and Vuzz for the magazine Phénix. He worked as a designer on the film, Sorcerer directed by William Friedkin in 1976. In a 1979 interview, George Lucas explicitly cited Druillet, and not Kirby, as a visual influence on his STAR WARS. He founded the Space Art Création in 1984 and was the designer of the backgroundand of the television adaptation of the novel Les rois Maudits (The Cursed Kings). Druillet created book covers for republications of Lovecraft's work, as well as numerous movie posters. In 1975 Druillet joined Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Bernard Farkas and Moebius to form the publishing house Les Humanoïdes Associés, and the magazine Métal Hurlant. This was to be a vehicle for his finest stories, and showcased a steady evolution in his graphical skills. With their input and direction, Métal Hurlant soon became the gold standard for European comic book art. An eclectic roster of in-house artists and contributors included both Moebius and Druillet as well as Enki Bilal, Richard Corben, Juan Gimenez, Beb Deum, Alejandro Jodorowsky and Milo Manara. His series Lone Sloane and Vuzz continued, and other stories of this period include La Nuit, and Nosferatu. In 1980 Druillet produced Salammbô, a comic-book trilogy based upon Flaubert's proto-heroic fantasy novel Salammbô. Awards and homors: Awarded the Grand Prix du Festival International de la BD d'Angoulême (1988) Awarded the Grand Prix National des Arts Graphiques (1996) Commandeur des Arts et Lettres (1998) (The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) is an Order of France, established by the Minister of Culture. Its purpose is the recognition of significant contributions to the arts, literature, or the propagation of these fields Bibliography This biography is a synthesis of data found in : http://www.bleedingcool.com/2009/06/09/do-anything-002-by-warren-ellis/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Druillet http://floppybootstomp.wordpress.com/tag/philippe-druillet/ http://www.galeriepascalgabert.com/philippedruillet_en.html