René Hausman, Belgian comic book writer and illustrator, Died at 80

  Artists

René Hausman was born on February 21, 1936, and died on April 28, 2016.

He was a Belgian comic-book writer and artist.

He was best known for his dark fairytales and watercolour drawings.

At 18 yrs old, he met Raymond Macherot famed comic author, then almost instantaneously quit his studies and made illustrations for local magazines.

After a year, Rene started working for Le Moustique, a family magazine from publisher Dupuis.

Hausman when on from that to Spirou, the Franco-Belgian comics magazine of the same publisher, where he contributed in 1957 Saki et Zunie, his first comic, with a story by Yvan Delporte.

Then the year after that, Hausman provided more than 500 illustrations for the magazine, specializing in animals and local folklore, which earned him the nickname “Bard of the Ardennes”.

Over the following decades, Rene increased his oeuvre to more adult comics, including erotic fables in the French magazine Fluide Glacial, but in 1985, he got his major breakthrough when he created Laïyna, a fairy story in two parts, the first of which was published as a supplement to Spirou in one week.

After a few years produced the first album in Aire Libre, the new graphic novels collection of Dupuis.

Later, he produced three more comics for the same series.

Also, identified as a sculptor and a bagpipe player, Rene never had a major commercial success but got wide recognition for his use of colours and the use of the fantastic in his stories.

All of Rene stories highlights nature and animal scenes, and Hausman himself has lived for all his life in the country.

René Hausman has been a major influence on many younger Franco-Belgian comics artists, including Frank Pé and Didier Comès.

Hausman was made an honorary citizen of the city of Durbuy, in 1995.

René Hausman passed away at 80 yrs old.