He described himself as an “
unhappy old fart
”.
For his publisher, he was the “
most grumpy of grumpy old men
”: the illustrator Raymond Briggs, who died at 88, will nevertheless remain associated with an album which has enchanted generations of children,
The Snowman
.
This album without text published in 1978, delicately drawn with colored pencils, has as its hero a young boy with red hair whose snowman, built by his hands, comes to life.
The book was adapted into an animated film in 1982 and featured with an introduction by singer David Bowie;
the film and its unforgettable music have remained associated with the magic of Christmas ever since.
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Raymond Briggs didn't like the holiday season, and his story wasn't so happy.
His melancholy fall, when the little boy discovers that his friend has melted, leaving only his hat and scarf, evokes the fleetingness of things.
“
I don't believe in happy endings
,” Raymond Briggs told the
Daily Telegraph
in 2007. “
Children have to face death sooner or later... So there's no point in avoiding it.
»
Briggs' world has never been watered down: life and death, joy and despair, loss and regret are recurring themes in his work.
Sacred Santa Claus
(1973) was Raymond Briggs' first major success.
In this album, Santa Claus is an irascible old man who hates the cold and the snow, and finds it very difficult to deliver presents.
Another 1977 classic, Fungus the Bogeyman
, has an unsavory creature plagued with existential anxieties as its hero.
The illustrator said he was inspired by himself - a "
miserable, disillusioned and depressed middle-aged man
" - to create this character.
In
Ethel and Ernest
(1998), he recounts in a touching way the life and death of his parents, a modest English couple who discover over the years the telephone, television, the hippies, and whose little boy wants, in their great horror, become an artist.
More recently, in 2019, Raymond Briggs evoked aging and death in a melancholic album (
Time for Lights Out
).
He also collaborated with
The Oldie,
a magazine created as a "
joyful alternative to a press obsessed with youth and celebrity
".
“Iconoclastic national treasure”
"
All those close to him knew his irreverent humor, which could be biting when it came to power
," his family said Wednesday in the statement announcing his death.
“
He liked the editorial in
The Guardian newspaper
which described him as an 'iconoclastic national treasure'.
»
Briggs' most famous works are inspired by his life and are nostalgic for his childhood England in the 1930s and 1940s in Wimbledon, South West London.
A cozy atmosphere that can be found in his work where the characters wear striped pajamas, dressing gowns and slippers, and drink countless cups of tea by the fireplace in their red brick houses.
His work evokes 20th century British social history, reflecting social class, education and changing politics.
His wife, Jean, whom he met at the Slade School of Fine Art in London where he studied in the late 1950s, was an abstract painter.
She suffered from schizophrenia and died of leukemia in 1973, a few months after the death of Briggs' parents.
Deaths that marked the books that followed.
His companion of 40 years, Liz, died of Parkinson's disease in 2015.
His longtime editor, Julia MacRae, felt that like her Santa Claus, "
Briggs' grumpy character concealed a big heart
."
The authenticity of his work and the emotion that emanated from it seduced children and adults alike, making it a success.
"
The problem with a lot of illustrators is that they don't draw from the inside out
," he said in a 2018 BBC documentary
. good illustration if you can feel what the person is feeling and draw what they are feeling.
Few people know how to do it.
»