'Le Roi du Diamant' (Junior Aventures #18, 1952).
Jef De Wulf was a French illustrator and photographer, most notable for his pin-up covers for popular novels and magazines. For a more juvenile audience, he drew the science fiction picture book 'Les Aventures de Professeur Plume' (1946) and several 1952 issues of the adventure comic book series 'Junior: Aventures' and 'Junior: Les Grands Héros' by Éditions des Remparts.
Life and career
Joseph De Wulf was born in 1926 in the French town of Ollioules, Var, as the son of a Belgian architect and a mother of English descent. At age 14, he was naturalized as a Frenchman. After his studies at the École des Arts Décoratifs in Nice, he moved to Paris at age 23, where he first did the occasional odd job for the Belgian publisher and distributor Roger Dermée, before Eugène Maréchal became his agent. De Wulf made cover illustrations for pulp novels published by Flamme d'Or, Editions Lutecia, Auguste Pinaud, Trévise, Éditions Atlantique and, most notably, Éditions de l'Arabesque, with whom he had a 15-year collaboration. During the 1950s and 1960s, he notably designed covers for the saucy Arabesque collections 'La Vie Galante de...', 'Parme' and 'Espionnage'. De Wulf also designed covers for erotic books for the publishing company Auguste Pinaud. At the time, some were considered too risqué and censored. In addition, De Wulf made illustrations for trading cards with the cycling event Tour de France as the main theme.
Cover illustrations for Bertrand de Gélannes' 'La Vie Galante De... Marguerite de Bourgogne, La Princesse Libertine' and Pierre Sabatier's 'La Puissance du Baiser'.
Comics and picture books
During his illustration career, De Wulf had limited excursions into the comics medium. For Éditions Le Triboulet in 1946, De Wulf drew the science fiction picture story 'Les Aventures du Professeur Plume: Plume et les Atomes', based on a radio serial of the same name by Jean Vailland. The booklet consisted of full-page illustrations with short text captions underneath. A second volume was announced, but presumably never released.
In 1952, De Wulf drew several adventure comic books in the Junior collection of Éditions des Remparts in Lyon. For 'Junior: Les Grands Héros', he made comic biographies of famous people from history. Drawing the first nine issues, his titles were 'Suffren', 'Carlsen Capitaine Courageux', 'Du Guesclin, Héros de Légende', 'Brazza, Le Conquérant Pacifique', 'Les Vainqueurs de l'Anapurna', 'Leclerc, Maréchal de France', 'Les Voyageurs du Kon-Tiki' and 'Mermoz, L'Archange de l'Air' and 'Bournazel Le Baroudeur'. The tenth and final issue, 'Charles de Foucauld, L'Ermite du Sahara', was drawn by André Gosselin. In addition, Jef De Wulf drew two issues of 'Junior Aventures'. With Max d'Amplaing as scriptwriter, he drew 'Ong-Cur Le Gaucho' (#17), and with writer André Chauvremont 'Le Roi du Diamant' (#18). The series was then continued until 1957 (issue #87), with Jack De Brown as main artist.
Les Grands Héros - 'Suffren' (cover and first page, 1952).
Later career and death
By the early 1960s, De Wulf also ran his own photography studio, specializing in pin-ups. By the mid-1960s, illustration assignments dried out and the artist chose for a job with a more steady income. In 1968, after moving to Nancy, he became advertising manager of the regional newspaper L'Est Républicain. Until his retirement in the 1980s, he also ran the paper's photo department. Jef De Wulf passed away in 1994 in Aubenas.
Books about Jef De Wulf
In 2012, Philippe Aurosseau released 'Jef de Wulf: Dessinateur des Fantasmes d'une Époque' (Éditions de l'Oncle Archibald), providing an overview of De Wulf's artwork.
'Les Aventures du Professeur Plume: Plume et les Atomes' (1946).