Albertine: Switzerland ⋆ Illustrator

Born near Geneva in 1967, Albertine studied at the École supérieure d'art visual of Geneva. After graduating in 1990, Albertine opened a screen-printing workshop and became a press illustrator for Le Nouveau Quotidein, L'Hebdo, Bilan, Femina, and Les Carnets de Versailles. Her marriage to writer Germano Zullo in 1996 has led to an ongoing and productive collaboration. Their children's books have won many awards, including the Golden Apple of Bratislava in 1999, Prix Suisse Jeunesse et Médias in 2009, the Prix Sorciéres in 2011, and the New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book in 2012. Albertine also collaborates with director Claude Barras, and they have made animated and short films, and a puppet show production. She continues to develop her artistic career and has ex hibited drawings, screen prints, lithographs, and wood engravings in Geneva, Paris, Rome, Valencia, and Tokyo. Albertine also teaches screenprinting and illustration courses in Geneva.

In interviews, Albertine often references the importance of games and play to her work. Her commitment to the story comes through the stroke of her Rotring, but her use of color and space, and of the variety of media she employs—including gouache, collage, line drawings, and digital pallets—speak to her sense of play. Overall, her art is aptly described as joyous and unrestrained, and her refusal to subscribe to the traditional constraints of illustrated books means that her work will stay fresh and relevant to children in the decades to come.