Illustrator Etienne Delessert featured at Telluride Gallery of Fine Art

25 Jul Illustrator Etienne Delessert featured at Telluride Gallery of Fine Art

[click “Play” to listen to Susan’s interview with Etienne Delessert]

His all caps bona fides set the bar high for his peers: more than 80 books, translations in 14 languages and millions of copies sold worldwide. No wonder Etienne Delessert is considered a father of modern children’s picture books. And Etienne Delessert is coming to Telluride. At least his work is: Etienne is featured in a show, “From Beasts to Barbar,” of other bold-faced children’s book illustrators opening at the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art on July 28 and running through the Telluride Film Festival in early September.

(Also at the top of the list of illustrators in Will Thompson’s groundbreaking show is the iconic Maurice Sendak, whom Etienne describes as a “friend and one of the reasons I came to New York in 1965.” )

Etienne was born in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1941, but claims that had he been born in Paris, he would have become a filmmaker. Since there was no Swiss film industry when he was a young man, he turned to making picture books instead. And to this day, Etienne Delessert remains a consummate storyteller.

For more than 30 years, this self-taught artist has been translating his – and the world’s – ideas, passions, fantasies and nightmares into the visual language of books, magazine illustrations, posters, animated films, paintings, and sculptures. He reaches both children and adults with his imaginary creatures and landscapes, juxtaposing the familiar with the fantastic to clarify this world and create new and lasting universes. Among his most notable work, much of it autobiographical: his groundbreaking “The Endless Party,” created in the 60’s, influential collaborations with playwright Eugene Ionesco (Contes 1, 2, 3, 4) and Jean Piaget (“How The Mouse…”), more recent award-winning “A Long Long Song,” “Ashes Ashes,” “Dance!, ” “The Seven Dwarfs,” “Who Killed Cock Robin?, ” “Humpty Dumpty,” “Big and Bad,” “Full Color,” “Moon Theater” and “Spartacus the Spider.”

Etienne’s illustrations have appeared in leading magazines and newspapers such as The Atlantic Monthly, Le Monde and The New York Times. His animated films include creations for “Sesame Street.”

Throughout his career Etienne’s work has won acclaim around the world. A large exhibition was presented at the Centre de l’Illustration in Moulins, France last year. The retrospective visited the NCCIL in Abilene, Texas before traveling for two years across the USA. Recently the exhibition of Etienne’s work was presented the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, MA.

To learn more about this prodigious talent, click the “play” button and listen to Etienne Delessert’s interview.