Jan Bosschaert (born 15 December 1957) is a Belgian

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

artist, painter and illustrator, best known for the humorous adventure comic series ''Sam'' and ', and his illustrations for the books of Marc De Bel.

Biography

Jan Bosschaert was born in

Borgerhout Borgerhout () is the smallest districts of Antwerp, district of Antwerp, Belgium. , the district housed 45,769 inhabitants on 3.93 km². It was an independent municipality until January 1983. The postal area code for Borgerhout is 2140. Geography ...

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

in 1957.De Weyer, Geert (2005). "Jan Bosschaert". In België gestript, pp. 93–95. Tielt: Lannoo. He was raised in

Wijnegem Wijnegem () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Wijnegem proper. Wijnegem is one of the most expensive municipalities of the Flanders. In 2021, Wijnegem had a total population ...

, close to the forest, in a house with a large garden.Onraedt, Lieven (1996). "De grote Vlaamse tekenaars 5: Jan Bosschaert". Comic Events. He spend most of his free time drawing. He made his first comic when he was about 10, and continued in the next years with comics in different genres, ranging from

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

stories to his own version of ''

Lucky Luke ''Lucky Luke'' is a Western (genre), Western bande dessinée, comic album series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris (cartoonist), Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborati ...

''. One of his comics, about two senior scouts, he shows to established comics creator Eddy Ryssack, whose main advice is to make sure everything is well documented. He also loved the work of

André Franquin André Franquin (; 3 January 1924 – 5 January 1997) was an influential Belgian comics artist, whose best-known creations are ''Gaston (comics), Gaston'' and ''Marsupilami''. He also produced the ''Spirou et Fantasio'' comic strip from 1946 to ...

which he discovered at the age of 14 at a comics fair in Brussels. His puberty was a rather unhappy period, where Bosschaert withdrew into his own world and into music. He listened to artists like

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 30 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he had his ...

, but kept on drawing. When he was 18 years old, he visited comics author Pom. Seeing the poverty the author lived in was quite a shock, but it didn't stop him of becoming an artist himself. When he studied at the Sint-Lukasinstituut, the Art Academy of Brussels, he discovered the work of illustrator

Ever Meulen Ever Meulen (born Eddy Vermeulen; 12 February 1946 in Kuurne, Belgium Arzach ''Arzach'' () is a comic book collection of four wordless short stories by artist/author Jean 'Moebius' Giraud, which were originally published in the French sci-fi/fantasy comics magazine ''Métal Hurlant''. The stories follow Arzach, a silent ...

'', the textless comic by

Moebius Moebius, Mœbius, Möbius or Mobius may refer to: People * August Ferdinand Möbius (1790–1868), German mathematician and astronomer * Friedrich Möbius (art historian) (1928–2024), German art historian and architectural historian * Theodor ...

. Influences outside the world of comics came from the dominant styles of his youth,

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and

new wave music New wave is a music genre that encompasses pop music, pop-oriented styles from the 1970s through the 1980s. It is considered a lighter and more melodic "broadening of Punk subculture, punk culture". It was originally used as a catch-all fo ...

. Bosschaert published his first work in (

À Suivre ''À Suivre'' or ''(A SUIVRE)'' (English translation: "To Be Continued") was a Belgian comics magazine published from February 1978 to December 1997 by the Casterman publishing house, and was preceded by a "0", or test, issue in October 1977. A ...

), and produced his first published comic album in 1982 with ''Ikarus'', but his breakthrough was the political-satirical comic strip ''Pest in 't Paleis'' (''Pest in the Palace'', scripted by Guido van Meir, 1983), which appeared in ''

HUMO ''Humo'' (stylized in all caps) is a popular Dutch-language Belgian weekly radio and television magazine. History and profile ''Humoradio'' (meaning a portmanteau of 'humor' and 'radio' in English) was first published in 1936 as a Dutch-langua ...

''. But Bosschaert quit making comics and worked for the rest of the decade primarily as an illustrator for different magazines, including ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'', and authors like

Hugo Claus Hugo Maurice Julien Claus (; 5 April 1929 – 19 March 2008) was a leading Belgian author who published under his own name as well as various pseudonyms. Claus' literary contributions spanned the genres of drama, novels, and poetry; he also lef ...

. His main illustrative work appeared first in publications of the Flemish television network VRT, and later in publications of publisher Altiora and popular children's book author Marc De Bel, whom he considers as a kindred spirit and an older brother. He also continued to make paintings, mainly female nudes and erotic works. Bosschaert is a purely figurative painter, who prefers clarity over concepts. His first longer running comic series started in 1990, with stories by Marc Legendre. ''Sam'' tells the adventures of an adolescent girl working in a small garage. The series came to a halt after 8 albums though, and translations were unsuccessful. While Bosschaert tried to limit his purely commercial work to a few jobs a year, he made an exception for people he feels connected to. He created ''King Kong Kooks'' as a catalogue annex comic for fashion designer

Walter Van Beirendonck Walter Van Beirendonck (born 4 February 1957) is a Belgian fashion designer. He was the head of the fashion department at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp until 2022. Education He graduated in 1980 from the Royal Arts Academy in Ant ...

. More international recognition followed from 2001 on, when he collaborated with comics author

Jean Dufaux Jean Dufaux (; born 7 June 1949) is a Belgian comic book writer. Beginning his professional career as a journalist for ''Ciné-presse'', Dufaux started writing comic books in the 1980s. Selected works *'' Le Bois des Vierges'' (1 volume, illust ...

on ', a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

series published by

Casterman Casterman is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics, specializing in comic books and children's literature. The company is based in Tournai, 90 kilometres southwest of the centre of Brussels, Belgium. History The company was founded in 1780 by Don ...

and translated in French and Spanish. Local success in Flanders came when he collaborates with comedian

Urbanus Urbain Servranckx (born 7 June 1949), better known as Urbanus, is a Belgian comedian, actor, singer and comic book writer. Although he is most famous as comedian, some of his songs became hits, such as ''Bakske vol met stro'' (1979), ''Madammen ...

on ''De Geverniste Vernepelingskes'', a series which parodies famous Belgians, including the two authors. Bosschaert illustrated album covers for musical artists like The Paranoiacs, Pitti Polak,

Plastic Bertrand Roger François Jouret (born 24 February 1954), better known as Plastic Bertrand, is a Belgium, Belgian musician, songwriter, producer, editor and television presenter, best known for the 1977 international hit single "". Biography Early life ...

and Jan De Wilde.

Bibliography

This bibliography contains only his comics, a list of his illustrations is not included.

Awards

* 1983: Provinciale Prijs voor de Schilderkunst (Provincial Award for Painting) of the province of

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, Belgium * 1991:

Bronzen Adhemar The ''Bronzen Adhemar'' (Dutch for "Bronze Adhemar") is the official Flemish Community Cultural Prize for Comics, given to a Flemish comics author for his body of work. It is awarded by the Flemish Ministry of Culture during Strip Turnhout, the ma ...

Turnhout Turnhout () is a Belgium, Belgian Municipalities in Belgium, municipality and city located in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. ...

, Belgium * 2003: Best Author (Dutch language) at the

Prix Saint-Michel The Prix Saint-Michel () is a series of comic awards presented by the city of Brussels, with a focus on Franco-Belgian comics. They were first awarded in 1971, and although often said to be the oldest European comics awards, they are actually the ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium

Notes

External links

Homepage
(French and Dutch)

(Dutch)

(Dutch) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bosschaert, Jan 1957 births Living people People from Borgerhout Belgian comics artists Belgian humorists Belgian erotic artists Belgian male painters 20th-century Belgian painters 21st-century Belgian painters Belgian satirists Belgian satirical comics artists 20th-century Belgian illustrators 21st-century Belgian illustrators Belgian children's book illustrators Belgian caricaturists Belgian album-cover and concert-poster artists Belgian magazine illustrators