Ralph Lazar (born 1967) is an artist, illustrator and a

New York Times Bestselling ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

author.

Life

Ralph Lazar was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in 1967, and has degrees in law & economics from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

and The

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. After university he worked at

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

and

Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG (, ) was a global Investment banking, investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. According to UBS, eventually Credit Suisse was to be fully integrated into UBS. While the integration ...

. He is married to the artist Lisa Swerling, has two children, and lives in London.

Art

Ralph Lazar’s art contemporaneously documents global politics, with a focus on the US. Lazar creates pieces in real-time, as the news unfolds. His work has been showcased at

Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel (Switzerland), Miami Beach (US), Hong Kong and Paris. Art Basel provides a platform for galleries to show and sell their work to buyers, an ...

Miami, The

LA Art Show The LA Art Show (Los Angeles Art Show) is an international encyclopedic art exhibition which was originally conceived by the Fine Art Dealers Association (FADA). The show annually takes place in Los Angeles, typically in January/February, and is no ...

, Art Palm Springs and Art Market San Francisco amongst others. In January and February 2020, his artwork appeared on 1,700

LinkNYC LinkNYC is an infrastructure project providing free Wi-Fi service in New York City. The office of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the plan on November 17, 2014, and the installation of the first kiosks, or "Links," started in late ...

digital screens across New York City. Recurring themes through his work are current affairs, race relations,

Civil Rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

, US Presidential history, the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

and the

US Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally including seven articles, the Constitut ...

Illustration and writing

Partnering with his wife Lisa Swerling, he is also known for his illustrative works

Happiness Is Happiness Is may refer to: Film and television * ''Happiness Is'' (film), a 2009 documentary Cartoons/Books * ''Happiness Is'' (cartoon), book series by Lisa Swerling & Ralph Lazar Music Albums *'' Happiness Is'', a 1966 album by Ray Conniff, or ...

, Harold's Planet, Vimrod, The Brainwaves, and Total Mayhem.

was first published by

Chronicle Books Chronicle Books is a San Francisco–based American publishing company that publishes books for both adults and children. History The company was established in 1967 by Phelps Dewey, an executive with Chronicle Publishing Company, then-publish ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Rights have been sold in 20 languages. Harold's Planet and Vimrod have been published by

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

and

Andrews McMeel Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC (formerly Andrews, McMeel and Parker (1975–1986) and Andrews and McMeel (1986–1997)) is a company that publishes books, calendars, and related toys. It is a part of Andrews McMeel Universal, which comprises AM ...

and sell as greetings cards in the millions. The Brainwaves are cartoon characters that populate

Dorling Kindersley Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media cong ...

's children's reference titles, published in 22 languages. Total Mayhem (formerly Dash Candoo) is a series of illustrated books for children, published by Scholastic in August 3, 2021. An additional series, More Total Mayhem, continued the series and is available on Amazon. Their artwork appeared weekly in

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

and

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

from 2006 to 2009. With Lisa Swerling, he co-authored the book Me Without You which was on the

New York Times Bestseller List ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

in March 2015. Awards and nominations include The

Royal Society Prizes for Science Books The Royal Society Science Book Prize is an annual £25,000 prize awarded by the Royal Society to celebrate outstanding popular science books from around the world. It is open to authors of science books written for a non-specialist audience, and ...

(2008),

Annecy International Animated Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring ever ...

Grand Prix winner 1998 (International Project Competition), The

(2007),

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

Book of the Week (April 2007) and The US

Parents' Choice Award The Parents' Choice Award was an award presented by the non-profit Parents' Choice Foundation to recognize "the very best products for children of different ages and backgrounds, and of varied skill and interest levels." It was considered a "prest ...

2006 and 2009.

Notes

External links

ralphlazar.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazar, Ralph Alumni of the London School of Economics People from Muswell Hill Living people 1967 births University of Cape Town alumni Artists from Marin County, California Goldman Sachs people