Jan Lööf (born 30 May 1940 in Trollhättan) is a Swedish illustrator, author, comic creator, and jazz musician.[1]
Jan Lööf | |
|---|---|
 Jan Lööf, at the Göteborg Book Fair, 2010 | |
| Born | 30 May 1940 Trollhättan, Sweden |
| Education | Studied at Konstfack in Stockholm |
| Occupation(s) | Illustrator, author, comic creator, jazz musician |
| Known for | Creator of the comic strip "Felix" |
| Notable work | "Felix," "Bellman," "Ville," children's books |
| Awards | Astrid Lindgren Prize (2011), Selma Lagerlöf Prize (2010), Urhunden (2009), and others |
Lööf studied at Konstfack in Stockholm in the early 1960s.
From 1967 until 1973 he created his most famous comic strip Felix, which soon gained popularity into many parts of the world.[2] Mixing humor and adventure, Felix has sometimes been described as a more naivistic or underground style version of Tintin, in terms of the drawing style, but in its themes and morale it is also somewhat leftist.
Later, Lööf created other comics, such as Bellman (a humor strip about a Stockholm hobo) and Ville (1975–76), a "comedic adventure" about an unemployed Stockholm author, teaming up with Olof Palme and Carl XVI Gustaf to fight the bad guys. This was originally serialized in the Swedish periodical Vi.[3]
In the early 1970s, Lööf participated as an actor in a few productions, among them the Swedish cult children's TV show Tårtan (The Cake, 1972)[4] about three incompetent and filthy sailors-turned-bakers.
His children's books are continually popular, both in Scandinavia and elsewhere. Among them are The Story of the Red Apple (Sagan om det röda äpplet, 1974) and Uncle Louie's Fantastic Sea Voyage (Morfar är sjörövare, 1966 – lit. Grandpa is a Pirate). Based on these books Lööf produced his own children's show, the animated Skrot-Nisse och Hans Vänner (Scrap-Nisse and his Friends), for Swedish National Television in 1985.[4]
He has also illustrated children's books written by his friend and colleague Carl Johan De Geer.[3]
Awards edit
Jan Lööf has received a number of awards.
- 2011: Astrid Lindgren Prize[5]
- 2010: Selma Lagerlöf Prize
- 2009: "Urhunden"[3]
- 2005: Bokjuryn (sv:Bokjuryn)
- 1985: Golden Antenna (sv:Guldantennen)
- 1977: Elsa Beskow Plaque (sv:Elsa Beskow-plaketten)
- 1976: 91:an Scholarship Award(sv:91:an-stipendiet)
- 1974: Expressen's Heffalump (sv:Expressens Heffalump)
- 1968: Adamson Award
References edit
- ^ "Contemporary Swedish Illustrators" (PDF). www.artscouncil.se. The Swedish Arts Council. 2013. pp. 100–103. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
- ^ "Jan Lööf - Lambiek Comiclopedia". Lambiek. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
He studied at the Stockholm Art Academy and started his 'Felix' comic in 1967. It soon gained worldwide popularity
- ^ a b c "Seriepris till Joakim Pirinen och Jan Lööf" (in Swedish). Archived from the original on November 22, 2011.
- ^ a b "Jan Lööf - Exhibitions". www.dotoday.com. Archived from the original on May 28, 2015. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
Jan Lööf has also contributed to the wealth of Swedish children's programmes as an actor in the cult television series Tårtan (1972 and with his puppet film Skrotnisse och hans vänner, which he created in collaboration with Lars-Åke Kylén in 1978-1985.)
- ^ "And winner of the Astrid Lindgren prize is…". Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. 2011-11-14. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
Today author Jan Lööf was announced as winner of the 2011 Astrid Lindgren Prize.
External links edit
- [1] – About the creation of the series Felix, and its leftism (in Swedish)11hj1
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