Nicole Claveloux was born in 1940 in Saint-Etienne and moved to Paris to begin work as an illustrator in 1966. She produced many illustrations for children's books, illustrated for the French version of Heavy Metal magazine, Métal Hurlant, and had a popular comic strip called Grabote. Her work was championed by publisher Harlin Quist, who hired her as an illustrator for many books, including The Teletrips of Alala (1970), from which comes a great deal of the images in this post. Also featured are illustrations from The Geranium on the Window Sill Just Died but Teacher You Went Right On (1971; see more about it here), Gertrude et la Sirène (1971), and a version of Alice in Wonderland: Les Aventures d'Alice au pays des merveilles (1974).
These illustrations have been sitting around in my "favorite images" folders for years now (before I even knew where they came from, I'm afraid), and I just received The Teletrips of Alala as a sweet gift from G - so amazing! I love her colorful, fantastical artwork. I recently read a comment from someone that said "she's like Heinz Edelmann's sister!" - true indeed; I can definitely see the Yellow Submarine connections in style. I would add, of course, with an imaginative touch all her own!
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| Claveloux made this illustration of Romeo and Juliet for a 1971 poster that a Danish bank offered as a gift to young couples when opening an account. |
