Philippe Druillet

With his well-known comic books Lone Sloane or Xcalibur, his participation to the iconic comic magazines Pilote or Humanoïdes Associés, the elaboration of 3D animation and even drawing and making entire film sets, Philippe Druillet (born in Toulouse in 1944) has pulled us into his own universe and opened new windows to the “9th art”. He is a unique author who will influence Jean Giraud in the evolution of his alter ego Moebius and Georges Lucas in the graphic conception of Star Wars. As a pioneer artist he is one of the milestones of our visual universe. A true genius of comic book making and a myth in the universe of science fiction, he is still today a great source of inspiration and a major influence to entire generations.

Biography

Philippe Druillet was born in 1944 in Toulouse, and he spent his youth years in Figueiras, the city of Salvador Dali. He returned to France in 1952 after the death of his father. In 1960, he begun to do his first work, the photograph. During this period, he regularly went to the films where he met with some of the main figures of the era, as Jean Boullet. He collaborated with the revue Midi-Minuit Fantastique and became the correspondent of American magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland in France. Then he improved his technique of photogram and cinematography during his projection on screen. All his photographs were published in numerous international publications concerning the film and the fantasy. In 1965, he met his wife Nicole and started to discover the drawing. Eric Losfeld published his first book, entitled Lone Sloane – Le Mystère des abîmes (Lone Sloane – The Mystery of the Abyss). In 1970, he joined in the magazine Pilote with his new episodes of Lone Sloane with a style more blazing, in which Druillet innovated an audacious page layout and introduced the computer graphics in decors. In 1975, he associated with Moebius, Jean-Pierre Dinnet and Bernard Farkas creating the Les Humanoïdes Associés, a French publishing house specializing in comics,  and the magazine Métal Hurlant. In 1975, torn by the death of his wife Nicole, Druillet created a violent and desperate story : La Nuit (The Night) for Rock and Folk. In 1980, he produced the Salammbô, a comic-book trilogy based upon Flaubert’s proto-heroic fantasy novel Salammbô. In his albums, the drawers explored the different registers and always the innovators.

In 1996, Druillet received the Grand Prix National des Arts graphiques (National Price of Graphics Arts). Together with Amélie Aubert and Benjamin Legrand, he created the Xcalibur, a French Canadian CGI sword-and-sorcery children’s television series with 40 episodes since 2002 on Canal+. Besides the comics programmes, Druillet has fed to his personal imaginary in artistic universe varied as the opera-rock, painting, sculpture, design, architecture and compter graphics.

“Looking back now, I tell myself that I am completely a dingo while reading my albums. Jimmy Hendrix used to say that, in some way, he came from the Mars, so did I. […] When I drew, it seems as if I opened a door and entered in my universe. And then when I finished my work, I closed this door and became again a man almost normal.”

Philippe Druillet

Interview with Philippe Druillet
Exclusively for the LOFT Gallery, Philippe Druillet tells us about his love for sculpture and reveals the origin of the pieces he designed as part of the Art for All collection.

Episode I • Itai : Origins
From Vuzz to Daum, back to the origin of the work, Itaï by Philippe Druillet.
Click to watch the video !

Episode II • At the origins of the Dark God…
Born from the imagination of Philippe Druillet, the Dark God is a leading figure in the fantastic universe, at the crossroads between Lovecraft, Michael Moorcock and Lone Sloane.
Click to watch the video!

Episode III • Druillet: Inventor of color
When a Dark God turns electric blue, our beliefs are called into question … unless by reinventing the meaning given to color, we simply manage to challenge our perception of the world and sculpture.
Click to watch the video!

 

Career

2025
Métal Hurlant – 50 Years and Already Immortal, Group Exhibition, Maison Folie Hospice d’Havré, Tourcoing, France

2024
Fureur de traits, Exhibition by Philippe Druillet, Galerie Barbier, Paris, France
Animaux Fantastiques, Group Exhibition, Louvre Lens, France
Band Dessiné, 1964–2024, Group Exhibition, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France

2023
The 6 Voyages of Philippe Druillet, Musée d’Angoulême, France

2021
L’Île des morts, Duo Exhibition Philippe Druillet & François Avril, Galerie Barbier, Paris, France

2020
Apocalypses, Galerie Barbier, Paris, France

2018
La Nuit transfigurée, La Ferme du Buisson, Noisiel, France

2017
Explorations, Galerie Barbier, Paris, France
Fantastiques, Duo Exhibition with Arx Lee, Galerie Loft, Paris, France

2015
Delirium, Galerie Huberty-Breyne, Paris
Perros-Guirec Comics Festival, Brittany, France

2014
Le monde de Sloane, Galerie Glénat, Paris

2013
Cosmos, Druillet & Di Rosa, Galerie Petits Papiers, Paris

2012
Repliquant(e)s, Galerie Petits Papiers, Paris

2011
Druillet Regards, Abbaye de Flaran, Valence-sur-Baïse, France

2010
Salammbô – The Nudes, Galerie Pascal Gabert, Paris

2009
Concorde Engine, Banque Rothschild, France
Metal Memories, Galerie Petits Papiers, Paris

2008
Contemporary Drawings, Galerie Bailly Contemporain, Paris
Atelier 3 / Transpositions, Musée Jean-Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, Angers, France

2005
Les Rois Maudits, Assurance & Conseil Saint-Honoré, Paris
Les Rois Maudits, Galerie Papiers Gras, Geneva, Switzerland

2002
2nd Salon of the Imaginary, Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris

2000
The Masters of European Comics, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris

1999
Druillet – Visions of the End of the Millennium, Palazzo Bagatti, Milan, Italy. Paintings, drawings, sculptures, furniture, multimedia, 3D, cinema. International catalogue published by Hazard Edizioni
4th Comics Festival of the Département de l’Ain, Bellegarde, France
Nature and Comics, Festival of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Roanne, France
They Dream the World, Libreville, Gabon
The Fantastic Universe of Philippe Druillet, Picasso Center, Montigny, France

1998
Galerie Loft, Paris – Sculptures, bronzes, and furniture for Benjamin and Edmond de Rothschild banks in Lugano and Geneva
Galerie Sauvez la Nuit, Marseille, France
Galerie Mots et Merveilles, Saint-Paul de Vence, France
100 Million Images, Musée d’Art Contemporain, Lyon, France
Ring, Théâtre du Ranelagh, Paris – Originals

1997
Fondation COPRIM, Paris
Visions of Tomorrow, Vitry-sur-Seine, France
Comics Festival, Chambéry, France

1996
Fantastic Arts Festival, Gérardmer – also member of the jury
Doisneau/Druillet, Galerie Papiers Gras, Geneva, Switzerland
Adventure Film Festival, Valenciennes, France
10th Anniversary of La Géode, Paris – Paintings and sculptures with Claveau and Vautrin
International Book Festival, French Pavilion, Bogotá, Colombia

1995
Doisneau/Druillet, Galerie Loft, Paris – Originals
Beaux-Arts, Metz, France
La Ville ainsi soit-il, Paris Opera
Comics Festival, Orange, France

1994
Manuel L’enfant rêve, Galerie Loft, Paris – Originals

1993
Galerie Loft, Paris – Paintings
Étonnants Voyageurs, Saint-Malo, France
Arts and Comics, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Clermont-Ferrand, France

1992
Comics Festival, Eauze, France (under the patronage of the Minister of Culture)
Poste de la Boëtie, Paris
The Universe of Philippe Druillet, Sedan, Belgium

1991
Galerie L’Étang d’Art, Bages, France

1990
Nippon Advisart, Galerie Avant-Gardes, Tokyo, Japan

1989
Tour de la Liberté, Tuileries Gardens, Paris
Comic Art, École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris
Comics Festival, Angoulême, France

1988
Following Salammbô (Kraft Masks), Galerie Pascal Gabert, Paris
Der Französische Comic, French Cultural Center, Berlin, Germany

1987
Salammbô, National Museum of Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia

1986
Homage to Gustave Flaubert: Salammbô, Comics Festival, Rouen, France
Télébédéciné Festival, Ajaccio, France
Galerie Papiers Gras & Cultural Center, Saint-Gervais and Geneva, Switzerland

1985
Jansen, Paris – Window design and limited edition silkscreen
Carrefour de la Communication, Franco-Japanese Cultural Summit, Paris

1984
Images and Imaginaries of Architecture (five works shown including The Isle of the Dead by Gail), Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris

1983
Beaux-Arts, Angoulême, France
Galerie La Marge, Lausanne, Switzerland
Galerie Graphic Center Mecanorma, Paris

1981
Salammbô, Lille, Strasbourg, Albi, and Toulouse, France
Numerous original art sales, Drouot and Orsay, Paris
Quest for Fire, Gaumont Ambassade, Paris

1980
Entrance into the Cabinet des Estampes, Paris
Salammbô, Galerie Bijan Aalam, Paris

1979
Les Humanoïdes Associés, Maison de la Culture, Rennes, France

1977
Purchases by National Museums (Grenoble and Angoulême) of several pages
Cultural Service of the French Embassy, Tunis and Algiers, Algeria

1976
Through the Fantastic, Montbéliard, France
European Comics, Graham Gallery, New York, USA
2nd Comics Fair, Brussels, Belgium
The Illusions of Ulthar, Librairie Expérience, Lyon, France
Original Comics Artwork, Galerie Françoise Carel, Paris

1975
Science Fiction, La Mongole Fière, Paris

1974
Galerie Art et Media, Paris

1972
Science Fiction Week, Maison de la Culture, Grenoble, France
Science Fiction, Galerie Le Triangle, Paris

1971
Museum of Modern Art, São Paulo, Brazil
Lone Sloane/Elric, Groupe SF, Rouen, France
Kunsthalle, Bern, Switzerland

1970
Science Fiction, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris
Socerlid, Saint-Cyprien, France

1969
Bookstore-gallery L’Envers du miroir, Paris
Lovecraft, Librairie Les Yeux Fertiles, Paris

1967
Galerie Le Tournesol, Paris

1965
Librairie Le Kiosque (Jean Boullet), Paris

1963
Dracula, Librairie Mandragore, Paris