Asunción Balzola Elorza (18 July 1942 in

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– 22 June 2006 in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

), better known as Asun Balzola, was a Spanish

autodidact Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individua ...

illustrator, writer and translator. After partially recovering from a severe car crash, she studied

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

and

graphic arts A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional, i.e. produced on a flat surface.

at the '' Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando'' in Madrid. Balzola worked in

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and

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

, in addition to her work in the fine arts. Among other awards, she received the Lazarillo Prize for her illustrations and has twice earned the Spanish National Illustration Prize. Asun Balzola's illustration style is best known for the use of color blotches and thick lines (frequently painting using a

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

technique). Her files and library were donated, posthumously, to the ''Centro de Documentación Infantil'' of the Central Library at

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

Selected works

Some works illustrated by Asun Balzola

* ''Las noches del gato verde'', by Elizabeth Mulder. Anaya. 1962. * ''Cancionero infantil universal'', by Bonifacio Gil. Aguilar. 1965. Lazarillo Prize. * ''La niña sin nombre'', by J. L. García Sánchez and M. A. Pacheco. Altea. 1978. (''Girl with no name''. Methuen, 1979.) * ''El niño y el robot'', by J. L. García Sánchez and M. A. Pacheco. Altea. 1978. (''Boy and his robot''. Methuen, 1979.) * ''Platero y yo'', by

Juan Ramón Jiménez Juan Ramón Jiménez Mantecón (; 23 December 1881 – 29 May 1958) was a Spanish poet, a prolific writer who received the 1956 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which in the Spanish language constitutes an example of high ...

. Bruguera. 1980. * ''Zuecos y naranjas'', by Montserrat del Amo. La Galera. 1981. * ''La bruja doña Paz'', by Antoniorrobles. Miñón. 1981. * ''Txitoen istorioa'', by Bernardo Atxaga. Golden Award, Bratislava Biennale. 1985. * ''La cacería'', by Bernardo Atxaga. Altea. 1986. * ''Celia en la revolución'', by

Elena Fortún María de la Encarnación Gertrudis Jacoba Aragoneses y de Urquijo (17 November 1886 in Madrid – 8 May 1952 in Madrid) was a Spanish author of children's literature who wrote under the pen name Elena Fortún. She became famous for '' Celia ...

. Aguilar. 1987. * ''Un montón de Unicornios'', by Ana Maria Machado. SM. 1990. * ''Papá ya no vive con nosotros'', by Manuel Alonso. SM. 1992. * ''Poemas para la pupila'', by Juan Cruz Iguerabide. Hiperión. 1995. * ''El primer gigante'', by Teresa Durán. La Galera. 1995. * ''Cuando los gatos se sienten tan solos'', by Mariasun Landa. Anaya. 1997.

Some works written and illustrated by Asun Balzola

* ''Historia de un erizo''. Miñón. 1978. Spanish National Illustration Prize. * ''Munia y la luna'' ( Apel·les Mestres Prize 1980). ''Los zapatos de Munia. Munia y el cocodrilo naranja. Munia y la señora Piltronera'' (Spanish National Illustration Prize 1985). ''Munia y los hallazgos''. Destino. 1980–1988. (''Munia and the moon''. ''Munia and the red shoes''. ''Munia and the orange crocodile''. ''Munia and the day things went wrong'', Cambridge University Press, 1988–1989.) * ''Santino el pastelero''. Destino. 1986. * ''Ala de mosca''. Pirene. 1989. * ''La cazadora de Indiana Jones''. SM. 1989. * ''El niño dibuja la noche''. ''Nada como los disfraces''. ''Buscar a María''. Scott Foresman. 1999.

Works for adult readers

*''Txoriburu. Cabeza de chorlito'', memoirs.

Notes

External links

Amigos del Libro
Biobibliography up to 2001

1942 births 2006 deaths Spanish children's writers Spanish illustrators {{Spain-writer-stub