Carolus Adrianus Maria Thole (20 April 1914 – 26 March 2000) was a Dutch-Italian painter and illustrator. He was born in

Bussum Bussum () is a commuter town and former municipality in the Gooi region in the south east of the province of North Holland in the Netherlands near Hilversum. Since 2016, Bussum has been part of the new municipality of Gooise Meren. Bussum had a ...

, near

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, and was educated at State Drawing School of

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...

. His first works were for advertisement and publishing companies, but he also painted glasses and walls. In 1958 Thole moved to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, with his wife and four sons. At first he worked for Rizzoli publisher, before passing to

Mondadori Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 1 ...

in 1960. After several covers for various magazines and books, he became renowned for his long work for

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

magazine ''

Urania Urania ( ; grc, , Ouranía; modern Greek shortened name ''Ránia''; meaning "heavenly" or "of heaven") was, in Greek mythology, the muse of astronomy, and in later times, of Christian poetry. Urania is the goddess of astronomy and stars, he ...

'', where his deep art culture, taste for surrealism and weird sense of humour could show at their best. For Mondadori he worked to a host of other series, including mysteries and romantic series for women. In 1980s Thole experienced an eye disease that compelled him to reduce his work activity and to leave ''Urania'' covers to

Vicente Segrelles Vicente Segrelles (born 9 September 1940 in Barcelona) is a Spanish comic book artist and writer. Segrelles gained popularity in Europe for his painted comic book epic ''The Mercenary'' ('' El Mercenario''), started in 1980. Set in a medieval f ...

and

Oscar Chichoni Oscar Chichoni (born July 14, 1957) is an Argentine illustrator of comic books and science fiction magazines and books. History Chichoni was born in a desolate hamlet in Corral de Bustos, province of Córdoba, and is self-taught in art. He publi ...

. His last work for ''Urania'' is for N°1330 of 1998: in the meantime, Thole earned a robust fame as one of the greatest

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an book cover artists. He worked also for French and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

publishers. Thole died in 2000 in

Cannobio Cannobio is a town and ''comune'' on the river Cannobino and the shore of Lago Maggiore in Piedmont, Italy. History The local inhabitants probably became subject to Ancient Rome, Roman rule by the time of the emperor Augustus Caesar, Augustus. ...

, a town on the

Lago Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; it, Lago Maggiore ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh Maggior; pms, Lagh Magior; literally 'Greater Lake') or Verbano (; la, Lacus Verbanus) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest la ...

in Northern Italy.

External links

http://www.fantascienza.com/801/una-persona-che-non-dimentichero-mai-karel-thole
A tribute to Thole's art (in Italian). First published in magazine ''Delos Science Fiction 55'' in April 2000
www.mondourania.com
A site with all the Thole covers for the

magazine ''

''
www.sf-buch.de/sf-buch/artikel/nachruf_karel_thole.html
Obituary with German Thole covers * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thole, Karel 1914 births 2000 deaths Science fiction artists People from Bussum 20th-century Dutch painters Dutch male painters Dutch contemporary artists Dutch illustrators 20th-century Dutch male artists

See also

External links