Marie Antoinette Aline Jacqueline "Manon" Iessel (July 4, 1909 - October 30, 1985) was an illustrator and one of the earliest French women comics artists.
Life & Career[]
Iessel was born in Reims, France in 1909. A successful illustrator from the 1930s to the 1970s, Iessel illustrated a number of novels for young readers, mysteries, and folklore collections. She also illustrated short historical stories, biographies, and religious stories (including biographies of important religious figures, Bible stories, and the history of the Catholic Church). The latter were later collected in albums under the title Belles histoires, belles vies.
She drew comic strips for the magazines Semaine de Suzette and Bernadette during the 1950s, (having previously done illustrations for Semaine de Suzette in the 1930s), as well as the adventures of the eponymous heroine for the monthly series Capucine in the 1960s. She was also a children's fashion illustrator and drew paper dolls for the "Poupée Bleuette" feature in Semaine de Suzette.
Her art deco-inspired art style is easily recognized: austere faces, clean lines, geometric decorations, and reminiscent of Danish artist Gerda Wegener. Her style was also very versatile and equally adaptable to child-like roundness as to Egyptian gods as to historical and biographical realism. In her last published work, a book of Christmas songs titled Les chants de Noël (1979), she included portraits of her great-nephews and -nieces.
She died in Orsay, France in 1985.
Sources[]
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