British illustrator Raymond Briggs, whose album The Snowman Enchanted generations of children around the world, he has died at the age of 88, his family announced Wednesday.
“We know that Raymond’s books have touched millions of people around the world, who will be saddened to hear this news,” his family said in a statement.
5.5 million copies sold worldwide
The Snowman, a textless album published in 1978 delicately drawn with colored pencils, is his most famous work, selling 5.5 million copies worldwide. His hero is a red-haired young man whose hand-built snowman comes to life.
Adapted into an animated film in 1982 and presented with an introduction by singer David Bowie, the film and its unforgettable music have remained associated with the magic of Christmas ever since.
“He appreciated his fans’ drawings, especially those of children, and would hang them on the wall of his study,” his family said.
And to add: “Everyone who was close to him knew his irreverent humor, which could be caustic when he came to power. He had liked the editorial in the newspaper. The Guardian who described it as an iconoclastic national treasure,” added the same source.
20th century British social history
Raymond Briggs’ most famous works are inspired by his life and recall his childhood in England in the 1930s and 1940s at Wimbledon, southwest London.
His work evokes 20th century British social history, reflecting social class, education and changing politics.
holy santa claus (1973) was Raymond Briggs’ first big hit. In this album, Santa Claus is a short-tempered old man who hates cold and snow, and finds it very difficult to deliver gifts.
Mushroom the boogeyman, another classic released in 1977, has as its hero a nasty creature plagued by existential angst. The illustrator said he was inspired by himself – a “miserable, disillusioned, depressed middle-aged man” – to create this character.
More recently, in 2019, Raymond Briggs evoked aging and death in a melancholy album (Time to turn off the lights). He also collaborated with the olda magazine created as a “lighthearted alternative to a press obsessed with youth and celebrity.”
Source: BFM TV
