Floc'h
Encyclopedia
Jean-Claude Floch known as Floc'h, is a French
illustrator, comics
artist, and writer. He is known for his use of the style known as ligne claire
. His older brother Jean-Louis Floch was also a cartoonist and illustrator.
After a quick study at the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs
(School of Decorative Arts) in Paris
, he dedicated himself to illustration and comics. His first published comics pages were for the story Le Conservateur, written by Rodolphe, which appeared in Imagine in 1975. The comics character "Sir Francis Albany" was created for Pilote
by Floc'h in 1977, and collaborating with François Rivière, Floc’h published his first collection of comics in 1977, Le Rendez-vous de Sevenoaks. He and Rivière devoted themselves to a narrative and illustration style characterized by Anglophilia
; the technique known as mise en abyme
; as well as a ligne claire drawing style inspired by the Belgian
tradition of comics illustration pioneered by Hergé
. Together they would create the series known as Une triologie anglaise (An English Trilogy), which debuted in 1977.
Floc'h’s fame grew with the publication of Le Dossier Harding in 1980. Floc'h created commercial illustrations, in which he explored new drawing techniques and developed a personal style based on graphic minimalism such as in Le Secret de la Pulmoll verte in 1980. In 1991, he collaborated with [
Jean-Luc Fromental
] on a collection of cartoons inspired by the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald
, Jamais deux sans trois. They also collaborated on the books Ma Vie, Life, High Life and Var, le Département dont vous êtes le Heros.
Floc'h and François Rivière collaborated on the novel Les Chroniques d'Oliver Alban, Diary of an Ironist (2006), in which they explored the art and literature from two decades: the 1940s and the 1970s. The two wrote the texts, with Floc'h also creating the art for the book.
In 2007, Floc'h published a very personal work in the form of his book Une vie de rêve: Fragments d’une autobiographie idéale, in which he lives a long life that extends from 360 BC to May 4, 2046, during the course of which he fulfills various fantasies (for example, he becomes a student of Plato
and poses for Philippe Halsman
).
Known mainly for cartoons and illustrations, Floc’h has however exhibited his art at various galleries, including the Pixi gallery in Paris and the Nicholas Davies Gallery in New York City
. Floc'h has also designed book covers as well as various movie posters, such as for Diabolo menthe and Smoking / No Smoking, and created illustrations for various newspapers and magazines in France, including Lire
, Senso, Monsieur, L'Express
, Le Nouvel Observateur
, Libération
, Le Monde
, Le Figaro
, and Elle
. In the United States
, he has created covers and illustrations for GQ
and The New Yorker
. A collection of his advertising artwork appeared in 1985 as Un Homme dans la Foule.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
illustrator, comics
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
artist, and writer. He is known for his use of the style known as ligne claire
Ligne claire
Ligne claire is a style of drawing pioneered by Hergé, the Belgian creator of The Adventures of Tintin. It uses clear strong lines of uniform importance. Artists working in it do not use hatching, while contrast is downplayed as well...
. His older brother Jean-Louis Floch was also a cartoonist and illustrator.
After a quick study at the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs
École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs
The École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs is a public university of art and design and is one of the most prestigious French grande école...
(School of Decorative Arts) in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, he dedicated himself to illustration and comics. His first published comics pages were for the story Le Conservateur, written by Rodolphe, which appeared in Imagine in 1975. The comics character "Sir Francis Albany" was created for Pilote
Pilote
thumb|Cover of the first Pilote teaser issue, #0.Pilote was a French comics periodical published from 1959 to 1989. Showcasing most of the major French or Belgian comics talents of its day the magazine introduced major series such as Astérix le Gaulois, Blueberry, Achille Talon, and Valérian et...
by Floc'h in 1977, and collaborating with François Rivière, Floc’h published his first collection of comics in 1977, Le Rendez-vous de Sevenoaks. He and Rivière devoted themselves to a narrative and illustration style characterized by Anglophilia
Anglophilia
An Anglophile is a person who is fond of English culture or, more broadly, British culture. Its antonym is Anglophobe.-Definition:The word comes from Latin Anglus "English" via French, and is ultimately derived from Old English Englisc "English" + Ancient Greek φίλος - philos, "friend"...
; the technique known as mise en abyme
Mise en abyme
Mise en abyme is a term originally from the French and means "placed into abyss".The commonplace usage of this phrase is describing the visual experience of standing between two mirrors, seeing an infinite reproduction of one's image, but it has several other meanings in the realm of the creative...
; as well as a ligne claire drawing style inspired by the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
tradition of comics illustration pioneered by Hergé
Hergé
Georges Prosper Remi , better known by the pen name Hergé, was a Belgian comics writer and artist. His best known and most substantial work is the 23 completed comic books in The Adventures of Tintin series, which he wrote and illustrated from 1929 until his death in 1983, although he was also...
. Together they would create the series known as Une triologie anglaise (An English Trilogy), which debuted in 1977.
Floc'h’s fame grew with the publication of Le Dossier Harding in 1980. Floc'h created commercial illustrations, in which he explored new drawing techniques and developed a personal style based on graphic minimalism such as in Le Secret de la Pulmoll verte in 1980. In 1991, he collaborated with [
Jean-Luc Fromental
] on a collection of cartoons inspired by the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
, Jamais deux sans trois. They also collaborated on the books Ma Vie, Life, High Life and Var, le Département dont vous êtes le Heros.
Floc'h and François Rivière collaborated on the novel Les Chroniques d'Oliver Alban, Diary of an Ironist (2006), in which they explored the art and literature from two decades: the 1940s and the 1970s. The two wrote the texts, with Floc'h also creating the art for the book.
In 2007, Floc'h published a very personal work in the form of his book Une vie de rêve: Fragments d’une autobiographie idéale, in which he lives a long life that extends from 360 BC to May 4, 2046, during the course of which he fulfills various fantasies (for example, he becomes a student of Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
and poses for Philippe Halsman
Philippe Halsman
Philippe Halsman was an American portrait photographer.-Life and work:Born to a Jewish family of Morduch Halsman, a dentist, and Ita Grintuch, a grammar school principal, in Riga, Halsman studied electrical engineering in Dresden....
).
Known mainly for cartoons and illustrations, Floc’h has however exhibited his art at various galleries, including the Pixi gallery in Paris and the Nicholas Davies Gallery in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Floc'h has also designed book covers as well as various movie posters, such as for Diabolo menthe and Smoking / No Smoking, and created illustrations for various newspapers and magazines in France, including Lire
Lire
Lire is a French literary magazine covering both French and foreign literature. It was founded in 1975 by Jean-Louis Servan-Schreiber and Bernard Pivot.-External links:*...
, Senso, Monsieur, L'Express
L'Express (France)
L'Express is a French weekly news magazine. When founded in 1953 during the First Indochina War, it was modelled on the US magazine TIME.-History:...
, Le Nouvel Observateur
Le Nouvel Observateur
Le Nouvel Observateur is a weekly French newsmagazine. Based in Paris, it is the most prominent French general information magazine in terms of audience and circulation ....
, Libération
Libération
Libération is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Originally a leftist newspaper, it has undergone a number of shifts during the 1980s and 1990s...
, Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
, Le Figaro
Le Figaro
Le Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...
, and Elle
Elle (magazine)
Elle is a worldwide magazine of French origin that focuses on women's fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment. Elle is also the world's largest fashion magazine. It was founded by Pierre Lazareff and his wife Hélène Gordon in 1945. The title, in French, means "she".-History:Elle was founded in...
. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, he has created covers and illustrations for GQ
GQ (magazine)
GQ is a monthly men's magazine focusing on fashion, style, and culture for men, through articles on food, movies, fitness, sex, music, travel, sports, technology, and books...
and The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
. A collection of his advertising artwork appeared in 1985 as Un Homme dans la Foule.
Works
Collections of Comics
- 1977 : Le Rendez-vous de Sevenoaks, with François Rivière (DargaudDargaudLes Éditions Dargaud is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1943 by Georges Dargaud.Initially, Dargaud published novels for women...
) - 1980 : Le Dossier Harding, with François Rivière (DargaudDargaudLes Éditions Dargaud is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1943 by Georges Dargaud.Initially, Dargaud published novels for women...
) - 1983 : Blitz, with François Rivière (Le Matin / Albin Michel)
- 1984 : À la recherche de Sir Malcolm, with François Rivière (DargaudDargaudLes Éditions Dargaud is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1943 by Georges Dargaud.Initially, Dargaud published novels for women...
) - 1991 : Jamais deux sans trois, with Jean-Luc Fromental (Albin Michel)
- 1992 : Une trilogie anglaise, with François Rivière (DargaudDargaudLes Éditions Dargaud is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1943 by Georges Dargaud.Initially, Dargaud published novels for women...
) - 1996 : Underground, with François Rivière (Albin Michel)
- 2005 : Olivia Sturgess : 1914-2004, with François Rivière (DargaudDargaudLes Éditions Dargaud is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1943 by Georges Dargaud.Initially, Dargaud published novels for women...
) - 2009 : Black Out et autres histoires du Blitz, with François Rivière (DargaudDargaudLes Éditions Dargaud is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1943 by Georges Dargaud.Initially, Dargaud published novels for women...
)
Limited Editions (Tirages de tête)
- 1984 : À la recherche de Sir Malcolm, with François Rivière.
- 1985 : Un homme dans la foule.
- 1985 : Un homme dans la foule.
- 1992 : À propos de Francis.
- 2005 : Olivia Sturgess : 1914-2004, with François Rivière.
Illustrated books
- 1985 : Ma vie, with Jean-Luc Fromental (Les Humanoïdes AssociésLes Humanoïdes AssociésLes Humanoïdes Associés is a French publishing house specialising in comics and graphic novels. Founded in December 1974 by Mœbius, Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Philippe Druillet and Bernard Farkas in order to publish Métal Hurlant, it quickly expanded to include a variety of science fiction work...
) - 1985 : Life, with Jean-Luc Fromental (Carton)
- 1986 : High Life, with Jean-Luc Fromental (Carton)
- 1986 : Banque de France, collective work. Illustrations recto verso are of two bank notes, one depicting Raymond LoewyRaymond LoewyRaymond Loewy was an industrial designer, and the first to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine, on October 31, 1949. Born in France, he spent most of his professional career in the United States...
, the other Jean CocteauJean CocteauJean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
(Carton) - 1994 : Meurtre en miniature, with François Rivière (DargaudDargaudLes Éditions Dargaud is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1943 by Georges Dargaud.Initially, Dargaud published novels for women...
) - 1994 : Journal d'un New-Yorkais, with Michel Jourde (DargaudDargaudLes Éditions Dargaud is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1943 by Georges Dargaud.Initially, Dargaud published novels for women...
/ Champaka) - 1997 : Ma vie 2 (DargaudDargaudLes Éditions Dargaud is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1943 by Georges Dargaud.Initially, Dargaud published novels for women...
) - 1998 : Exposition, with Michel Jourde (Reporter / Galerie Médicis)
- 2007 : Une vie de rêve (Robert LaffontÉditions Robert LaffontÉditions Robert Laffont is a book publishing company in France founded in 1941 by Robert Laffont. Its publications are distributed in almost all francophone countries, but mainly in France, Canada and in Belgium....
)
Film Posters
- 1977 : Diabolo menthe by Diane KurysDiane KurysDiane Kurys is a French filmmaker and actress. Several of her films as director are autobiographical. Born in Lyon, Rhône, France, her parents divorced when she was a child. She began as an actress with Jean-Louis Barrault's company. She gained film stardom, but didn't like the roles she was...
- 1980 : Cocktail Molotov by Diane KurysDiane KurysDiane Kurys is a French filmmaker and actress. Several of her films as director are autobiographical. Born in Lyon, Rhône, France, her parents divorced when she was a child. She began as an actress with Jean-Louis Barrault's company. She gained film stardom, but didn't like the roles she was...
- 1992 : Smoking/No SmokingSmoking/No SmokingSmoking/No Smoking is a 1993 French movie. It was directed by Alain Resnais and written by Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri, from the play Intimate Exchanges by Alan Ayckbourn...
by Alain ResnaisAlain ResnaisAlain Resnais is a French film director whose career has extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included Nuit et Brouillard , an influential documentary about the Nazi concentration camps.He began... - 1997 : On connaît la chansonOn connaît la chansonOn connaît la chanson is a 1997 French film. It was directed by Alain Resnais, and written by Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri. Jaoui and Bacri also starred in the film with Sabine Azéma, Lambert Wilson, André Dussollier and Pierre Arditi.- Plot :Odile , a business executive, is married to weak,...
by Alain Resnais - 1998 : Harry dans tous ses états (Deconstructing HarryDeconstructing HarryDeconstructing Harry is a black comedy film by Woody Allen released in 1997. This film tells the story of a successful writer called Harry Block, played by Allen himself, who draws inspiration from people he knows in real-life, and from events that happened to him, sometimes causing these people to...
) by Woody AllenWoody AllenWoody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema... - 1999 : La Bûche by Danièle ThompsonDanièle ThompsonDanièle Thompson is a French film director and screenwriter. She is the daughter of film director Gérard Oury and actress Jacqueline Roma....
- 2001 : Liberté-Oléron by Bruno Podalydès
- 2001 : Vertiges by l'amour by Laurent Chouchan
- 2002 : Hollywood EndingHollywood EndingHollywood Ending is a 2002 American film written and directed by Woody Allen, who also plays the principal character. It tells the story of a once-famous film director who suffers hysterical blindness due to the intense pressure of directing.-Plot:...
by Woody Allen - 2003 : Petites coupures by Pascal Bonitzer
- 2003 : Pas sur la boucheNot on the LipsNot on the Lips is a 2003 French musical film directed by Alain Resnais. It is an adaptation of the operetta Pas sur la bouche, written by André Barde and Maurice Yvain, which was first produced in Paris in 1925.-Plot:...
by Alain Resnais - 2005 : Melinda and MelindaMelinda and MelindaMelinda and Melinda is a 2004 film written and directed by Woody Allen. It was premiered at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. The film is set in Manhattan and stars Radha Mitchell as the protagonist Melinda, in two storylines; one comic, one tragic...
by Woody Allen - 2005 : L'Anniversaire by Diane Kurys
- 2008 : Le Grand AlibiLe Grand alibiLe Grand Alibi is a 2008 French film. The screenplay is based on the Hercule Poirot crime novel The Hollow, written by the English writer Agatha Christie, although Poirot doesn't appear in this film version....
by Pascal Bonitzer
Novels
- 2006 : Les Chroniques d'Oliver Alban, with François Rivière (Robert LaffontÉditions Robert LaffontÉditions Robert Laffont is a book publishing company in France founded in 1941 by Robert Laffont. Its publications are distributed in almost all francophone countries, but mainly in France, Canada and in Belgium....
)
External links
- Floc’h on Lambiek.net L'homme dans la foule : blog devoted to Floc'h Floc’h et Rivière : construction d’une œuvre : article concerning collaborations of Floc'h and François Rivière Exposition Faces : exposition à la Galerie Pixi en 2001 Exposition Life - High Life - Life after Life : Galerie Pixi exhibition in 2003
- The New Yorker : New Yorker covers http://www.abraxas-libris.fr/vitrines.php?id=21 : couvertures pour la collection Marginalia (n°1 et 14) So British! : portrait of Floc'h for the magazine Bretons n°15 (November 2006) La Vie rêvée de Floc'h : portfolio of illustrations for Une vie de rêve for the magazine Bretons n°26 (November 2007) Entretien audio accordé par Floc'h à ExpressBD Filmographie : movie posters by Floc'h for CinEmotions Lire : Le livre de leur enfance