'Le Vent des Savanes' (coll. Histoires de la Vie des Hommes, 1979).
Bruno Le Sourd is a French illustrator, graphic artist and abstract painter. Between 1979 and 1989, he drew installments in several educational comic collections, dealing with world history, religious leaders and Bible stories.
Early life and career
Born into an artistic family in 1941, Bruno Le Sourd spent his childhood drawing and painting, before studying Graphic Arts at the National School of Decorative Arts in Paris. Between 1966 and 2008, he was a freelance graphic artist and illustrator, working mainly for the children's press and advertising. For the publishers Milan Jeunesse, Hachette, Flammarion and Éditions GP, he illustrated several children's picture books, often of an educational nature.
'Si J'étais Clown', children's book by Henriette Bichonnier, with illustrations by Bruno Le Sourd (GP, 1981).
Comics
Le Sourd's excursions into comic art were also dedicated to history and education. In 1979, he illustrated the first and fifth installments of Univers Media's biblical comic book collection about the Old Testament, dealing with the Genesis book ('La Genèse, Les Récits de la Création') and the story of David ('David'). Written by René Berthier, the collection's three other volumes were illustrated by Marc Boulet (#2) and Jean-Marie Vivès (#3 and 4). In that same year, for Les Éditions de la Pibole, Bruno Le Sourd drew the installments about the Canadian pioneers ('Antonine fille du Roy') and 16th century African nomads ('Le Vent des Savanes'), both written by Serge Saint-Michel for the collection 'Histoires de la Vie des Hommes'.
During the 1980s, Bruno Le Sourd provided the artwork for Daniel Sassier's comic book about the history of France, 'Le Grand Livre de l'Histoire de France' (Nathan, 1985). For the series 'Les Grandes Heures des Chrétiens' of the publishing house Fleurus, he returned to Christian history with comic biographies of Martin Luther King ('Martin Luther King et le Journal du Racisme et de la Non-violence', 1985) and Joan of Arc ('Jeanne d'Arc - Sa Mission, ses Victoires, sa Passion', 1986), written respectively by Serge Saint-Michel and René Berthier. Bruno Le Sourd's last known comic was a 1989 educational short story - written by Joël Bodin and drawn in collaboration with Éric Albert - about nuclear energy, commissioned by the EDF.
Painter
Later in life, Bruno Le Sourd returned to his childhood passion, painting. Between 2002 and 2008, he took classes in painting and writing from Sylvain Nuccio and Yves Desvaux-Veeska. Since 2008, he has been working on fine art projects, either on his own or in collaboration with friends. Based in Arcueil in the southern suburbs of Paris, Bruno Le Sourd focuses on making "lyrical abstract" paintings, inspired by poetic and musical emotions.
'Le Grand Livre de l'Histoire de France' (Nathan, 1985).