Lisbeth Zwerger (born 26 May 1954) is an Austrian

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 ...

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

. For her "lasting contribution to children's literature" she received the international

Hans Christian Andersen Medal The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...

in 1990. Zwerger was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1954. She studied 1971 to 1974 at the Applied Arts Academy of Vienna, but left before completing the course of studies. She married English artist John Rowe. Since the publication of her first illustrated book in 1977 she has worked as a freelance

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

illustrator in Vienna, specializing in

fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the Folklore, folklore genre. Such stories typically feature Magic (supernatural), magic, Incantation, e ...

. Michael Neugebauer Verlag published Zwerger's first book, Das Fremde Kind in 1977. Zwerger continued to work with Neugebauer, who also occasionally contributed to the lettering and book design. Her style is similar to that of English illustrators of the 19th century and she acknowledges being influenced by the work of

Arthur Rackham Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, ...

Awards

The biennial

Hans Christian Andersen Award The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...

conferred by the

International Board on Books for Young People International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

is the highest recognition available to a writer or illustrator of children's books. Zwerger received the illustration award in 1990. She has also been honored at the Bologna International Children's Book Fair and the Biennial of Illustrators at Bratislava. She won a Silver Brush in 2000 for her illustration of ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'' by Lewis Carroll. * Österreichischer Kunstpreis - Kinder- und Jugendliteratur, 1998 *H.C. Andersen Prize "Mit Livs Eventyr", 2011. *Großer Preis 2012, awarded by Die Deutsche Akademie für Kinder- und Jugendliteratur. * Rattenfänger-Literaturpreis 1994

Exhibitions

Zwerger's work has been exhibited worldwide. * Salzburg Toy Museum, 1979 * Klingspor Museum/Offenbach, 1983 * Otani Memorial Art Museum/Nishinomiya, 1987 * Sembikiya Gallery/Tokyo, 1987 * Sano Gallery/Mishima, 1987 * Museo Civico, Bologna, 1990 * Paris Espace Saint-Ouen (Salon du livre de jeunesse), 1991 * Bratislava (BIB), 1991 * International Book Fair/Taipei, 1992 * Franz Meier Museum/Mexico City, 1993

Published books

* E.T.A. Hoffmann, "The Strange Child", 1977 *

Clemens Brentano Clemens Wenzeslaus Brentano (also Klemens; pseudonym: Clemens Maria Brentano ; ; 9 September 1778 – 28 July 1842) was a German poet and novelist, and a major figure of German Romanticism. He was the uncle, via his brother Christian, of Franz a ...

, "The Legend of Rosepedal, 1978 *

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

, "Hansel and Gretel", 1979 *E.T.A. Hoffmann, "Nutcracker and Mouseking", 1979 (first version) *

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

, "

Thumbelina Thumbelina (; ) is a literary fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Travelling Companion" in the se ...

", 1980 *Brothers Grimm, "The Seven Ravens". 1981 *Hans Christian Andersen, "The Swineherd", 1982 * O.Henry, "The Gift of the Magi", 1982 *Brothers Grimm, ''Le Petit Chaperon Rouge'' (" Little Red Cap"), 11 full page colour illustrations, 1983. *

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

, ''Le Géant égoïste'' (" The Selfish Giant"), Casterman, 1984. *

, "The Nightingale, 1984 *

Edith Nesbit Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland; 15 August 1858 – 4 May 1924) was an English writer and poet, who published her books for children and others as E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 such books. She was also a political ...

, "The Deliverers of their country", 1985 *

. "The Canterville Ghost, 1986 *

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

, ''Un Chant de Noël'' ("

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

"), Casterman, 1988. *

Aesop Aesop ( ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE; formerly rendered as Æsop) was a Greeks, Greek wikt:fabulist, fabulist and Oral storytelling, storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence re ...

, ''

Fables Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse (poetry), verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphized, and that ...

'', Duculot, 1989. * ''Till L'Espiègle'' ("

Till Eulenspiegel Till Eulenspiegel (; ) is the protagonist of a European narrative tradition. A German chapbook published around 1510 is the oldest known extant publication about the folk hero (a first edition of is preserved fragmentarily), but a background i ...

"), Duculot, 1990. * Hans Christian Andersen, ''Fairy Tales", 1991. *

Christian Morgenstern Christian Otto Josef Wolfgang Morgenstern (6 May 1871 – 31 March 1914) was a German writer and poet from Munich. Morgenstern married Margareta Gosebruch von Liechtenstern on 7 March 1910. He worked for a while as a journalist in Berlin ...

, "Gallows Songs",1992 * Wilhelm Hauff, "Dwarf Nose, 1993 *"The Art of Lisbeth Zwerger" (collection of Illustrations 1977–1993), 1993 * Theodor Storm, "Little Hobbin", 1995 * Frank L. Baum, "The wizard of Oz, 1996 *

Heinz Janisch Heinz Janisch is an Austrian radio journalist and writer. In 2024, he won the Hans Christian Andersen Award, Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing. Janisch was born in 1960 in Güssing, Burgenland. He graduated from high school in 1978 and sub ...

''L'Arche de Noé'' (" Noah's Ark"), Nord-Sud, 1997. *

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

, ''Alice au pays des merveilles'' ("

"), Nord-Sud, 1999. * "The Bible", 2000 *

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

"How the Camel got his Hump", 2001 * Peter I. Tchaikowsky-Lisbeth Zwerger "Swanlake". 2002 * E.T.A. Hoffmann, "Nutcracker",2003 (second version) * Hans Christian Andersen, "The Little Mermaid", 2004 * Clement C. Moore, "The Night before Christmas", 2005 * Brothers Grimm, "The BremenTown Musicians", 2006 * Jurg Amann, "Leonce and Lena", 2014 *

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( ; born 31 July 1965), known by her pen name , is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has List of best-sell ...

, "The Tales of Beedle the Bard", 2018

References

External links

Lisbeth Zwerger at Google Images

Profile: Lisbeth Zwerger
(2010) – based on an interview with John Seven * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zwerger, Lisbeth 1954 births Living people 20th-century Austrian women artists Austrian illustrators Austrian women children's book illustrators Artists from Vienna Austrian children's book illustrators Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration winners University of Applied Arts Vienna alumni

Awards

Exhibitions

Published books

See also

References

External links