(Yes, Mr. Fawlty, they're in Barcelona.)
Tomi Ungerer couldn't make it to the festivities, which honored "an illustrator whose professional career, we consider, has made an important contribution to graphic creativity." He sent a humble letter.
Many actors won't watch themselves on the screen. And yes, some in most any profession from illustrator to author to politician or sports hero might echo Tomi's words: "I still find no satisfaction in my work." Meaning, they see the flaws, while most everyone else sees perfection.
The full text:
“At the age of 86, I realize that even with 70 years of apprenticeship, I still find no satisfaction in my work. I just finished a new book for children and adults, it has been greeted with enthusiasm by my publisher, yet, doubt already sets in. Once printed, I shall discard it like all the other ones; flawed, misbegotten children, all.
I shouldn’t complain. Showered with prizes, with a museum sheltering my work, over 140 books on record – I still struggle with my nagging insecurity. Success has never reassured me.
For many I am known as a children’s book author. I conceived these books for the child in me, a little rascal indeed. Haunted with a restless imagination, I need the challenge of new styles and techniques.
This frustrating attitude of downgrading myself is fuel for my searching drive. Oh yes, I am enthusiastic once immersed in a project, possessed with sparkling despair, giggling at my own ideas. Then, once done, my vanity deflates and I start another book as if it was the first one.
I am happy and honoured to accept this prize. With my eternal insecurity it is reassuring, comforting to be acknowledged. To know that others appreciated my work is a stimulant for me, to keep on going, trying out new directions in swallowing labyrinths.”
Tomi Ungerer is the World's Greatest Living Artist because he covers the widest spectrum, from cartoons to architecture, from the most commercial magazine pop art to pen and ink drawings that are serious masterworks. His subjects range delightfully and wildly between the most innocent and joyous of children's books, to the most cynical depictions of political corruption and the love and hate behind sexuality.
Just a few examples, starting with the kindergarten "cat house" he designed:
Simplicity of line:
The soft and rich nature of his books for children, many made into films:
POLITICS
The extremes of sexuality
I got a chance to meet Tomi a few times, at lectures and signings. I once asked him if he'd ever met Spike Milligan. He said no, and wondered why I asked. I said it was because he and Spike both had a great humanity to their work, a delightful sense of nonsense and the naive, but also a sober conscience about what's wrong with the world. Tomi did know another hero of mine, Shel Silverstein, who I think was the only other artist to navigate between children's books and more "raunchy" material.
I'm actually IN the documentary on Tomi, in the scene where he demonstrates his art techniques to an audience of enthusiasts. It was amusing to see his work at a diverse gallery where his colorful kiddie stuff and his political magazine material were out in the open...and his erotica was in another room, with a cautionary sign on the door. Generally, an art show attracts a certain type of person who dresses and acts a certain way. Not so with an Ungerer exhibition, where you'll see, side by side, the young, the old, the frowning radicals and the open-minded liberals, the humbly clothed and the dedicated and outrageous followers of fashion. Tomi Ungerer is beloved, respected and admired...and The World's Greatest Living Artist.
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