Jean-Thomas "Tomi" Ungerer (German pronunciation:[ˈtoːmiˈʊŋəʁɐ]ⓘ; 28 November 1931 – 9 February 2019) was a French artist and writer from Alsace (a French region on the French/German border).[1][2] He published over 140 books ranging from children's books to adult works and from the fantastic to the autobiographical. He was known for sharp social satire and witty aphorisms. Ungerer is also famous as a cartoonist and designer of political posters and film posters.[3]
Ungerer was born in Strasbourg in Alsace, France,[6] the youngest of four children to Alice (Essler) and Theo Ungerer.[7][8] The family moved to Logelbach, near Colmar, after the death of Tomi's father, Theodore—an artist, engineer, and astronomical clock manufacturer—in 1936. Ungerer also lived through the German occupation of Alsace when the family home was requisitioned by the Wehrmacht.[9][10]
As a young man, Ungerer was inspired by the illustrations appearing in The New Yorker magazine, particularly the work of Saul Steinberg.[11][12] In 1957, the year after he moved to the U.S., Harper & Row published his first children's book, The Mellops Go Flying, and his second, The Mellops Go Diving for Treasure; by the early 1960s he had created at least ten children's picture books with Harper, plus a few others, and had illustrated some books by other writers. He also did illustration work for publications including The New York Times, Esquire, Life, Harper's Bazaar, The Village Voice,[12] and for television during the 1960s, and began to create posters denouncing the Vietnam War.[9]
Maurice Sendak called Moon Man (1966) "easily one of the best picture books in recent years."[13] After Allumette: A Fable, subtitled With Due Respect to Hans Christian Andersen, the Grimm Brothers, and the Honorable Ambrose Bierce in 1974, he ceased writing children's books, focusing instead on adult-level books, many of which concern sexuality. He eventually returned to children's literature with Flix in 1998. Ungerer donated many of the manuscripts and artwork for his early children's books to the Children's Literature Research Collection at the Free Library of Philadelphia.[14]
A consistent theme in Ungerer's illustrations is his support for European construction, beginning with Franco-German reconciliation in his home region of Alsace, and in particular European values of tolerance and diversity. In 2003, he was named Ambassador for Childhood and Education by the 47-nation Council of Europe.[15]
Ungerer divided his time between Ireland, where he and his wife had moved in 1976,[9][16] and Strasbourg.[13] In addition to his work as a graphic artist and 'drawer', he was also a designer, toy collector and "archivist of human absurdity."[13]
Ungerer died on 9 February 2019 in Cork, Ireland, aged 87.[6][20][21]
Work
Tomi Ungerer described himself first and foremost as a story teller and satirist. Prevalent themes in his work include political satire (such as drawings and posters against the Vietnam War and against animal cruelty), eroticism, and imaginative subjects for children's books.[9] Ungerer's publications are held by the German National Library, including:[22]
Maria Linsmann: preface to exhibition catalogue Tomi Ungerer-Illustrationen und Plastiken, Burg Wissem, Bilderbuchmuseum [de] of Troisdorf 2000
Thérèse Willer: Tomi Ungerer, the "Picasso“ of caricature. In: Graphis. The international journal of design and communication, ISSN0017-3452, vol. 59, no. 348, 2003, pp 18–37
Thérèse Willer: Tomi Ungerer. Das Tomi Ungerer Museum in Strasbourg.Diogenes, Zurich 2007, ISBN978-3-257-02094-6. (catalogue of the permanent exhibition, with 210 illustrations by Ungerer, three essays by Thérèse Willer and several introductions)
