Léna, 2009

André Juillard  

Born in 1948, André Juillard is a French illustrator.

He studied visual communication at high school and then joined drawing classes of Philippe Druillet, Jean-Claure Mézières and Jean Giraud from 1972 until 1973. Fascinated by the world of comics, he turned towards illustration right after his education. Initially things were difficult, and despite his participation in several competitions, he wasn't able to assert his position in the world of illustration. Eventually, he joined the Formula 1 team and published his first art work in 1974. At Fleurus, he mainly collaborated with Verrien, with whom he created a historical comic book, Bohémond de Saint-Gilles and with Didier Convard for the Isabelle Fantouri series.

In 1978, he joined Pif Gadget's editorial, where he collaborated with Patrick Cothias. They created the Masquerouge comic strip and then a new version of Les Sept Vies de l'Epervier for an adult audience. These works were acknowledged by Jean-Pierre Dionnet and Henri Filippini.

In the 80s, he pulled away from the world of comics and devoted himself to the book illustrations, collaborating with writers like Rudolph, William Faulkner, Irene Frain, Didier Daeninckx, etc.

In 1993, he began a new comic strip, le Cahier Bleu, which won several awards. Three years later, André Juillard received the “grand prix” in the city of Angoulême for his work.

With Yves Sente, he formed the renewal team of Blake and Mortimer. Their work was criticized quite a lot by professionals, even if they received support from the public.

In September 2008, the BDFIL festival of Lausanne dedicated a major exhibition to them.