Philippe Druillet

Born on 28 June 1944 in Toulouse, Philippe Druillet spent the early years of his life in Spain before returning to France following his father’s death in 1952. He began his career as a photographer for the magazine Midi-Minuit Fantastique, before turning to illustration. As early as 1966, he created the character of Lone Sloane, the hero of his first science-fiction graphic novel published by Éric Losfeld, which immediately marked a breakthrough in the global comic art scene. Continued in Pilote from 1960 onwards, the series made its mark with its baroque artwork, grandiose architecture and fragmented layout, breaking away from the traditional, rigid grip of comic panels. In 1975, he joined forces with Moebius, Jean-Pierre Dionnet and Bernard Farkas to found Les Humanoïdes Associés and the magazine Métal Hurlant. That same year, devastated by the death of his wife Nicole, he created La Nuit (The Night), a harrowing tale that represents a true graphic exorcism. He then embarked on his most ambitious artwork: an adaptation of Gustave Flaubert’s Salammbô set in an atmosphere blending fantasy epic and science fiction, published between 1980 and 1986. Winner of the Grand Prix at the Angoulême Festival in 1988, followed by the National Grand Prix for Graphic Arts in 1996, Druillet has extended his art far beyond comic s: painting, sculpture, pâte de verre, jewellery, murals, opera and animated film — all territories he explores with the same creative vigour, making him one of the most versatile artists of his generation.