Joost Swarte

Infobox Comics creator
name = Joost Swarte


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caption =
birthname = Joost Swarte
birthdate = birth date and age|1947|12|24
location = Heemstede, The Netherlands
deathdate =
deathplace =
nationality = Dutch
area = Artist, Writer, Graphic Designer
alias =
notable works = "Swarte, Hors Serie"
"Modern Papier"
awards =
website = http://www.joostswarte.com

Joost Swarte (born 24 December, 1947, Heemstede) is a Dutch comic artist and graphic designer. He is best known for his ligne claire or "clear line" style of drawing, and in fact coined the term. [Pleban, Dafna. [http://comicfoundry.com/?p=1526 "Investigating the Clear Line Style," ComicFoundry (Nov. 7, 2006).] Accessed Oct. 2, 2008.]

Joost Swarte studied industrial design in Eindhoven and started drawing comics in the late sixties. In 1971 he started his own comic magazine "Modern Papier" and made regular contributions to the Dutch comic magazine "Tante Leny Presenteert".

Comic series and characters by Swarte include "Katoen en Pinbal", "Jopo de Pojo", "Anton Makassar", "Dr Ben Cine" and "Niet Zo, Maar Zo"- "Passi, Messa". He is however more famous for his numerous drawings, stamps, posters, cards, LP and CD covers, and for his magazine covers (most noteworthy the Dutch magazine "Vrij Nederland", the Belgian magazine "HUMO" and the Italian architecture magazine "Abitare".)

International recognition started around 1980 when Swarte took part for the first time in the international comic show Salon International de la Bande Dessinée in Angouleme (France). His work is translated into English, French, Spanish, Italian and German. "Swarte, Hors Serie", a great survey of his work, was published by Futuropolis (Paris) in 1984.

Apart from comics and graphic design, Swarte has also designed furniture, leaded and stained glass windows, murals and other objects. For his hometown Haarlem he even designed a theatre building (De Toneelschuur) that was built in cooperation with Mecanoo Architects.

In 1992 Swarte initiated the Stripdagen, a biennial international comic event held in Haarlem.

In recent years, Swarte has created many illustrations for the "New Yorker" magazine. In 2007 Swarte, a former scout, designed the Dutch 2007 Europa stamp with the subject one hundred years of scouting.cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | month = june | year = 2007 | url = http://www.scouting.nl/static/nieuws/Interview_bladCollect.juni%202007.pdf | title = Collect | format = | work = | publisher = | accessdate = 2007-06-22, p. 4-5]

Awards

Swarte received numerous international prizes for his work. In 2004, Joost Swarte received a knighthood from Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
* 1981: Best Foreign Artist at the Prix Saint-Michel, Belgium
* 1998: Stripschapprijs, the Netherlands

References

External links

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* [http://www.miragebookmark.ch/be_joost_swarte.htm Bookmarks] designed by Joost Swarte