Guido Crepax (born Guido Crepas; July 15, 1933 - July 31, 2003, Milan, Italy) was an Italian comics artist, who deeply influenced the European adult comics world in the second half of 20th century. He is most famous for his character Valentina, created in 1965 and very representative of the spirit of the sixties. The Valentina series of books and strips became noted for Crepax's sophisticated drawing, and for the psychedelic, dreamlike storylines, generally involving a strong dose of eroticism. Crepax was born in Milan, the son of cellist Gilberto Crepax (1890—1970); he grew up in the musical environment; the closest friend of his childhood was Claudio Abbado. Crepax began to work as a graphic artist and an advertisement illustrator while still studying architecture (he degreed in 1958), producing posters as well as covers for magazines (including the Italian edition of Galaxy), books and LPs. The latter were mainly for classical music and jazz, including Gerry Mulligan, Fats Waller, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Italian Jazz Stars, but also for more popular works like "Nel blu dipinto di blu" by Domenico Modugno. In 1963 he entered the world of comics, and two years later he created his most famous character, Valentina. Valentina Rosselli appeared for the first time in the N°2 of the Italian comics magazine Linus, as a secondary character in the series featuring her boyfriend, the art critic Philip Rembrandt, the superhero Neutron. Valentina, inspired by the silent film actress Louise Brooks, soon became the main character of the series, whose last episode was published in 1995. Valentina's stories are a weird mix of oneiric, science fiction, fantasy, espionage and (especially later) erotic themes. Apart from Valentina, Crepax produced other comic books featuring different heroines, including Belinda, Bianca, Anita and Francesca. The blonde Anita, inspired by the Anita Ekberg of Federico Fellini's movie La dolce vita. In spite of her name meaning "White" in Italian, Bianca had long black hair: she was featured in several books, including Crepax's version of Gulliver's Travels. Francesca's stories, about the life of a high school student, are unusual as they have no erotic connotations at all. Crepax also adapted to comics some of the classics of erotic literature like Histoire d'O, Justine and Emmanuelle. In 1977 he finished an adventure comic book, L'uomo di Pskov ("The man of Pskov"), followed one year later by L'uomo di Harlem, concerning the world of jazz in New York. Crepax's last work, Frankenstein, an adaptation of the novel by Mary Shelley, was published in 2002.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Guido Crepax
Guido Crepax (born Guido Crepas; July 15, 1933 - July 31, 2003, Milan, Italy) was an Italian comics artist, who deeply influenced the European adult comics world in the second half of 20th century. He is most famous for his character Valentina, created in 1965 and very representative of the spirit of the sixties. The Valentina series of books and strips became noted for Crepax's sophisticated drawing, and for the psychedelic, dreamlike storylines, generally involving a strong dose of eroticism. Crepax was born in Milan, the son of cellist Gilberto Crepax (1890—1970); he grew up in the musical environment; the closest friend of his childhood was Claudio Abbado. Crepax began to work as a graphic artist and an advertisement illustrator while still studying architecture (he degreed in 1958), producing posters as well as covers for magazines (including the Italian edition of Galaxy), books and LPs. The latter were mainly for classical music and jazz, including Gerry Mulligan, Fats Waller, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Italian Jazz Stars, but also for more popular works like "Nel blu dipinto di blu" by Domenico Modugno. In 1963 he entered the world of comics, and two years later he created his most famous character, Valentina. Valentina Rosselli appeared for the first time in the N°2 of the Italian comics magazine Linus, as a secondary character in the series featuring her boyfriend, the art critic Philip Rembrandt, the superhero Neutron. Valentina, inspired by the silent film actress Louise Brooks, soon became the main character of the series, whose last episode was published in 1995. Valentina's stories are a weird mix of oneiric, science fiction, fantasy, espionage and (especially later) erotic themes. Apart from Valentina, Crepax produced other comic books featuring different heroines, including Belinda, Bianca, Anita and Francesca. The blonde Anita, inspired by the Anita Ekberg of Federico Fellini's movie La dolce vita. In spite of her name meaning "White" in Italian, Bianca had long black hair: she was featured in several books, including Crepax's version of Gulliver's Travels. Francesca's stories, about the life of a high school student, are unusual as they have no erotic connotations at all. Crepax also adapted to comics some of the classics of erotic literature like Histoire d'O, Justine and Emmanuelle. In 1977 he finished an adventure comic book, L'uomo di Pskov ("The man of Pskov"), followed one year later by L'uomo di Harlem, concerning the world of jazz in New York. Crepax's last work, Frankenstein, an adaptation of the novel by Mary Shelley, was published in 2002.
Labels:
Crepax
