Judith Vanistendael (born 21 August 1974,

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

) is a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

-speaking

Belgian comics Belgian comics are a distinct subgroup in the comics history, and played a major role in the development of European comics, alongside France with whom they share a long common history. While the comics in the two major language groups and r ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

, and teacher in comics art. She also worked for a time as a

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

illustrator.

Early life and education

Judith Irene Vanistendael is the daughter of the Flemish poet-journalist Geert van Istendael.Couvreur, Daniel, "Judith et le nègre", ''

Le Soir ''Le Soir'' (, ) is a French-language Belgian daily newspaper. Founded in 1887 by Émile Rossel, it was intended as a politically independent source of news. Together with '' La Libre Belgique'', it is one of the most popular Francophone newsp ...

'', 30 January 2009 After her secondary studies, she attended an art school in

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) 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 the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

, and spent a year at the Academy of Fine Arts in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

."Judith, l'art et la mort", ''Le Soir'', 18 January 2012 Returning to Ghent, she resumed artistic studies for four years before continuing her studies in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, Spain. She learned comics creation at the Institut des arts graphiques Sint-Lukas Bruxelles in 2000, with teachers, and before publishing in journals such as ''Ink'', ''Demo'', ''Zone 53001'', and ''Bruxxxel Noord''.

Career

Vanistendael's career began with the illustration of Flemish tales written by her father, ''Vlaamse Sprookjes'' (1995), then ''Het Koeienboek'' by Bibi Dumon Tak (2000). She also worked for a time as a children's book illustrator. She wrote and drew ''La Jeune fille et le nègre'', an

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

story in two volumes about the love between a young

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

lese and a young Belgian. The narration depicts "the absurdity of the regularization procedures for undocumented migrants in Belgium", which multiply the obstacles facing this political refugee. The book, which mixes drama, humor, love, and lightness, according to ''

'', immediately won several cultural prizes and was part of the selection for the Essentiels d'Angoulême in 2009, and for the .Giret, Haude, "Vert et visionnaire", '' Sud Ouest'', 24 January 2009 The storyline echoes a novel by Geert van Istendael, ''Bericht uit de burcht'' (News from the citadel), which expresses his dismay at his daughter's relationship with an undocumented man. In 2012, Vanistendael published ''Toen David zijn stem verloor'' (David, women and death), whose hero is suffering from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

and undertakes to change his life, without succeeding in protecting the women who are close to him from the effects of his agony:—"The disease is the tragedy of the patient, but also of those around him."Châtellier, Thierry, "Judith Vanistendael, auteur du réel", ', 26 January 2012 The work, which is inspired by the death of Vanistendael's father-in-law, took two years to complete. Her preference was using

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...

.Peras, Delphine, "David, les femmes et la mort, par Judith Vanistendael", ''

L'Express (, stylized in all caps) is a French weekly news magazine headquartered in Paris. The weekly stands at the political centre-right in the French media landscape, and has a lifestyle supplement, ''L'Express Styles'', and a job supplement, ''R� ...

'', 11 January 2012 The work was one of the five finalists for the critics' grand prize.Deglise, Fabien, "L'ACBD dévoile les finalistes pour son Grand Prix de bande dessinée 2013", ''

Le Devoir (, ) is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. is one of few independent large-circulation newspapers in Quebec ...

'', 27 November 2012 She has been nominated for the

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

on three occasions."L’artiste de la fragilité de la vie", ''Le Soir'', 14 September 2019 Based on a screenplay by Mark Bellido, Vanistendael drew and colored ''Salto - L'Histoire du marchand de bonbons qui disparut sous la pluie'' (Salto - The Story of the Candy Merchant Who Disappeared in the Rain) (2016), which features a candy seller turned

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects an very important person, important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public offic ...

in Spain of the 1990s. The main character, Miquel, is a failed writer who sells candy to support his family and agrees to become a bodyguard for a politician threatened by

ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

, which ends up destroying his life.Tallet, Richard, "Un héros très discret", ''Charente libre'', 2 July 2016 Potet, Frédéric, "Protection rapprochée.", ', 2 July 2016 Vanistendael uses several processes and formats, in particular the colored pencil. Vanistendael joined forces with for a

children A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

's series, ''Rosie et Moussa'', which appears in Dutch and as a serial in '' Brussel Deze Week'' before being the subject of four volumes.B.Dx and C.M., "BD "Rosie et Moussa à la conquête de Bruxelles", ''Le Soir'', 1 February 2018 The story tells of the great friendship between two children from

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 ...

. The series was translated into many languages and received several awards. Director was inspired by it to create the film ''Rosie et Moussa'', released in theaters in October 2018.Caneve, Nastasja, "Sur les toits de Bruxelles, la vue est belle. Écran libre à Cinergie", ''Le Soir'', 24 October 2018 In 2019, inspired by the character of

Penelope Penelope ( ; Ancient Greek: Πηνελόπεια, ''Pēnelópeia'', or , ''Pēnelópē'') is a character in Homer's ''Odyssey.'' She was the queen of Homer's Ithaca, Ithaca and was the daughter of Spartan king Icarius (Spartan), Icarius and ...

in the ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'', Vanistendael delivers ''Les Deux Vies de Pénélope'', where a doctor mother engages in humanitarian work and distances herself from her family, especially her daughter. Vanistendael opted for a treatment with "watercolor stains". Vanistendael long wanted to describe the life of a woman who, due to an intense job, cannot invest herself with her daughter.Bussy, Olivier le, "La femme qui n'était plus tout à fait là", ''

La Libre Belgique ''La Libre Belgique'' (; ), currently sold under the name ''La Libre'', is a French-language Belgian daily newspaper. Together with ''Le Soir'', it is one of the most popular Francophone newspapers in both Brussels and Wallonia. ''La Libre'' was ...

'', 2 October 2019 Having read the work of

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

, Vanistendael was struck by the role of Penelope, who limits herself to keeping the hearth, while her husband has increasing adventures. Nevertheless, Vanistendael retains that

Odysseus In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus ( ; , ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; ), is a legendary Greeks, Greek king of Homeric Ithaca, Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, epic poem, the ''Odyssey''. Od ...

left his family because a higher interest required it. In Vanistendael's album, Penelope's husband is responsible for watching over the home, while Penelope, haunted by her missions in countries at war, "refuses to let herself be reduced to her dimension as a mother" and returns to her humanitarian activities. During the production of the work, Vanistendael went to a refugee camp and drew a graphic report: ''Moria, the hell of Lesbos''.Belhache, Philippe, "L'autre Pénélope", '' Sud Ouest'', 15 September 2019 For this work, she received the "Bulles d'Humanité" prize, awarded by the newspaper, ''

L'Humanité (; ) is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organisation of the SFIO, ''de facto'', and thereafter of the French Communist Party (PCF), and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, would not exist." History ...

''. In 2021, at the , Vanistendael won the with for ''La Baleine-bibliothèque'' (

Le Lombard Le Lombard (), known as Les Éditions du Lombard () until 1989, is a Belgian comic book publisher established in 1946 when '' Tintin'' magazine was launched. Le Lombard became part of Média-Participations since 1986, alongside publishers Darg ...

Personal life

Vanistendael has a daughter.

Selected works

* ''La Jeune fille et le nègre'' (scriptwriter and designer), éd.

Actes Sud Actes Sud is a French publishing house based in Arles. It was founded in 1978 by author Hubert Nyssen. By 2013, the company, then headed by Nyssen's daughter, Françoise Nyssen, had an annual turnover of 60 million euros and 60 staff members. ...

- L'An 2 # ''Papa et Sophie'', April 2008 # ''Babette et Sophie'', September 2009 * ''David les femmes et la mort'' (scriptwriter, designer, and colorist), trans. Hélène Robbe, ''

'', January 2012 * ''Salto - L'histoire du marchand de bonbons qui disparut sous la pluie'' (designer and colorist), scriptwriter by Mark Bellido, ''Le Lombard'', June 2016 * ''Rosie et Moussa'',

Bayard Bayard may refer to: People *Bayard (given name) * Bayard (surname) *Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (1473–1524) French knight Places Antarctica * Bayard Islands, off the coast of Graham Land, Antarctica Canada * Bayard, Saskatch ...

Jeunesse # ''La rencontre'', January 2018 # ''Une lettre de Papa'', May 2018 * ''Les Deux Vies de Pénélope'' (scriptwriter), ''

'', September 2019 . Finalist,

Prix de la critique The Prix de la critique is a prize awarded by the Association des Critiques et des journalistes de Bande Dessinée to the best comic album released for a year in France. Previously, from 1984 to 2003, it was called ''Prix Bloody Mary'' and awarded ...

, 2020

Awards and honours

* 2021, Prix Atomium, winner Prix Willy-Vandersteen with Zidrou, for ''La Baleine-bibliothèque'' (Le Lombard) * 2015, nominated,

Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis The (German Youth Literature Award) is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's and young adult literature. It is Germany's only ...

* 2014, nominated,

Eisner Award for Best Painter/Digital Artist The Eisner Award for Best Painter/Digital Artist is an award for creative achievement in American comic books. It is awarded to a comic book artist for interior art. Name change The award was named "Best Painter" from 1993 to 1999, "Best Painter/ ...

* 2014, nominated, Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material * 2013, nominated, Outstanding Graphic Novel,

Ignatz Awards The Ignatz Awards recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year at the Small Press Expo since 1997, only skipping a ...

* 2007, Best comic (Dutch language),

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 ...

: ''De Maagd en de Neger, papa en Sofie'', Uitgeverij De Harmonie - Oog & BlikBelga (13 October 2007), "Gotlib récompensé à Bruxelles", ''LeSoir'',

References

Bibliography

* "Judith Vanistendael", ''

'', 29 January 2013. * "Le crabe peut nous faire aimer la vie", ''Le Soir'', 20 January 2012. * "Repéré pour vous. Être humanitaire et maman", '' 24 heures'', 11 September 2019. * "Un choix que les autres n'acceptent pas", ''

Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

'', 4 September 2019. * Beauvallet, Laurent, "Faire face au cancer", ''Ouest-France'', 5 August 2012. * Bessec, Alain, "Judith Vanistendael : La jeune fille et le nègre", ''

Ouest-France ''Ouest-France'' ( ; French for "West-France") is a daily French newspaper known for its emphasis on both local and national news. The paper is produced in 47 different editions covering events in different French départements within the régi ...

'', 8 June 2008. * Blehache, Philippe, "Un jeu avec la mort", ''Sud Ouest'', 19 June 2016. * Boussin, O. "David les femmes et la mort", ''BD Gest' '', 1 June 2012. * Brunner, Vincent "BD : 'Les Deux Vies de Pénélope', mère et médecin humanitaire", ''

Les Inrockuptibles ''Les Inrockuptibles'' (), abbreviated as ''Les Inrocks'', is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. As of 2021, it returned to a monthly format. In the beginning, rock music was the magazine's prim ...

'', 13 September 2019. * Couvreur, Daniel "La jeune fille et le nègre 2, Babette et Sophie", ''Le Soir'', 25 September 2009. * Couvreur, Daniel & Vanistendael, Judith (interview), "L’Odyssée, terriblement humaine", ''Le Soir'', 14 September 2019. * Dauphinais-Pelletier, Camille, "David, les femmes et la mort", ''La Nouvelle'' (Sherbrooke), 4 February 2015. * Jarno, Stéphane, "Les Deux Vies de Pénélope, Judith Vanistendael", ''

Télérama ''Télérama'' is a weekly French language, French cultural and television magazine published in Paris, France. The name is a contraction of its earlier title: ''Télévision-Radio-Cinéma''. Fabienne Pascaud is currently managing editor. Ludovic ...

'', 5 October 2019. * Le Saux, Laurence, "BD : Judith Vanistendael tisse la toile d'une Pénélope moderne et aventureuse", ''Télérama'', 10 September 2019. * Le Saux, Laurence, "Salto" de Judith Vanistendael ou la double face d'un vendeur de bonbons", ''Télérama'', 26 June 2016. * Milette, J. "Salto", ''BD Gest' '', 15 September 2016. * O.V.V., "Les Deux Vies de Pénélope", ''Le Vif'', 12 September 2019. * P.V., "À bras-le-corps", '' Aujourd'hui en France'', 30 June 2016. * S.T., "Les deux vies de Pénélope", ''

Moustique ''Moustique'' () is a weekly news magazine with a special reference to current affairs, culture and television. It has been in circulation since 1924 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. History and profile The magazine was started in 1924 ...

'', 18 September 2019. * Salin, S. "Les deux vies de Pénélope", ''BD Gest' '', 5 September 2019. * Servin, Lucie, "Les Deux Vies de Pénélope : Ulysse au foyer", ''Les Cahiers de la bande dessinée'', no. 9, October–December 2019, p. 163. * Van Vaerenbergh, Olivier "Derrière Pénélope: le journal de création de Judith Vanistendael", ''Le Vif'', 17 September 2019. * Van Vaerenbergh, Olivier, "Derrière Pénélope", ''

Le Vif ''Le Vif/L'Express'' is a weekly news magazine published in Brussels, Belgium. It has been in circulation since 1983. History and profile The magazine was established under the name of ''Le Vif'' in 1983. Its name was changed to ''Le Vif/L'Expre ...

'', 12 September 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vanistendael, Judith 1974 births Living people Belgian comics writers Belgian comics artists Belgian graphic novelists Belgian illustrators 21st-century Belgian educators 21st-century Belgian women educators People from Leuven Belgian children's book illustrators Belgian women children's book illustrators Belgian women illustrators Belgian female comics writers Belgian female comics artists