Lilo Fromm
German artist and children's book illustrator
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Lilo Fromm (27 December 1928 – 19 June 2023) was a German artist and children's book illustrator. She illustrated more than 250 books during her life.[1] In 1967, her illustrations for the book The Golden Bird won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis.
Lilo Fromm | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 27, 1928 Berlin, Germany |
| Died | June 19, 2023 (aged 94) Hamburg, Germany |
| Occupation | Artist |
Biography
Fromm was born on 27 December 1928 in Berlin, Germany.[2] She grew up in Berlin, and while she was young, she also lived in East Prussia and on the North Sea. She was educated in Berlin, Munich, Freiburg, and Hamburg.[1]
She began her career in commercial art and advertising, including designing paper goods and book covers. She was a freelance artist in the 1950s, and turned to illustrating children's books mainly during the 1960s and 1970s.[2][3] In 1957 in Germany, her first children's book illustrations were published by Georg Lentz Verlag.[1][4] She co-published her first children's book with her friend and author, Gisela Bonsels.[2]
She illustrated the children's book Das Mondgesicht (1960), which was a runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1962.[5] In 1967, her illustrations for the book The Golden Bird won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis and the Bratislava Gold Medal.[3] She also illustrated the book Uncle Harry (1972), which won a Children's Book Showcase title in 1973.[5]
In 1965, Fromm moved to Provence, France. She lived there until she moved back to Germany in 2016.[1][6]
Fromm gave many of her illustrations to the International Youth Library, where her work is held in their collection.[7] She died on 19 June 2023 in Hamburg, Germany, at the age of 94.[1][6]
Style of artwork
The majority of Fromm's children's book illustrations were made in a painterly style, which was in contrast to the graphic art style of most German picture book artists during the 1960s.[8] Her work was colorful, and she worked with crayon and painted washes.[9] Some of her work was created with black ink illustrations, such as the book Muffel and Plums.[10]
Her fairy tales illustrations had a dream-like quality that emerged in Germany in the mid-1960s alongside other artists, including Helga Aichinger and Lieselotte Schwarz.[11] Cristoph Meckel, while writing for Bookbird, said she used symbolism and archetypes in her depictions of fairy tales.[12]
Selected works
- Das Mondgesicht (1960, Obpacher Buch u. Kunstverlag) - written by Gerda Marie Scheidl
- Uncle Harry (1972, Macmillan) - written by Gerlinde Schneider, adapted by Elizabeth Shub
- Muffel and Plums (1973, Macmillan; 1973, Hamilton)[10]
- Six Companions Find Their Fortune (1971, Doubleday) - written by Brothers Grimm[10]