Paul Cuvelier
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Paul Cuvelier (November 22, 1923 - July 5, 1978) was a Belgian comics artist best known for the comic series Corentin.
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[edit] Biography
Paul Cuvelier was born in Lens, Belgium in 1923.[1] After studying art at the academy of Mons for a few months, he debuts in the youth magazine Bravo. He is one of the first artists to be contacted by Hergé for the new magazine Tintin which starts in 1946 with Hergé as editor-in-chief.
For Tintin, he creates his main comics series, Corentin. Trained as a painter, Cuvelier is recognized by his peers as one of the most talented artists, but his series never get really successful, and Cuvelier switches his whole life between painting and drawing comics. His main interest is the human body, but the catholic background and juvenile audience of Tintin restricts his possibilities. Corentin is his longest lasting series, but with only seven albums in 25 years it fails to get a faithful and large audience, and his other series are even more shortlived.
Only in 1968 is he able to combine his passion for the female nude and his gift for drawing comics in Epoxy, a fantasy about the Greek gods written by Jean Van Hamme, which is considered as the first adult comic of Europe.[1]
But the lack of commercial success and the burden on his creativity of drawing the same figures over and over again, as necessary for a comics series, wear him out, and from 1973 until is death 5 years later, he only paints and leaves the comics world. He dies in 1978 in Mont-sur-Marchienne.[1]
[edit] Bibliography
- Le Canyon mystérieux, 1 album, 1947, story by Hergé and Edgar Pierre Jacobs: Editions du Berger
- Corentin, 7 albums, 1950-1974, stories by Jean Van Melkebeke, Cuvelier, Greg, Acar, and Jean Van Hamme: Le Lombard and Dargaud
- Epoxy, 1 album, 1968, stroy by Jean Van Hamme: Losfeld
- Flamme d'argent, 3 albums, 1965-1981, story by Greg: Le Lombard, Dargaud, and Cygne
- Line, 5 albums, 1966-1985, story by Greg: Le Lombard, Dargaud, and Bédéscope
- Wapi, 2 albums, 1969-1981, story by Benoît and Acar: Le Lombard and Dargaud
[edit] Awards
- 1974: Award for best realistic artwork at the Prix Saint-Michel, Brussels
[edit] Notes
[edit] Source
- Béra, Michel; Denni, Michel; and Mellot, Philippe (1998): "Trésors de la Bande Dessinée 1999-2000". Paris, Les éditions de l'amateur. ISBN 2-85917-258-0
[edit] External links
- Biography at Comiclopedia (Last accessed November 6, 2006)
- Biography at Le Lombard (French) (Last accessed November 6, 2006)
- Fan site (French) (Last accessed November 6, 2006)
