Scholler, Albert Pujolar - 1 Original colour page - Detective Story - 1960

Cartoonist, illustrator and painter, a prolific author of magazine covers and kiosk literature, as well as illustrations for both the national market and abroad. Albert Pujolar was born into a wealthy family in upper Barcelona. His father held the post of secretary to Joan Comorera, Agriculture Minister of the Republican Generalitat. His mother was his husband’s secretary. A few days after Albert was born, his parents were forced to flee to France when they learned that her husband was to be arrested and sentenced to death. The child stayed with his paternal grandparents in Hostalrich, where he would spend most of his childhood. His parents ended up in a concentration camp in Argelès-sur-Mer, where his father remained for seven years; not so his mother, who managed to leave the camp thanks to her connections. After giving birth to a daughter, she decided to leave her with Albert under the care of his own parents, who were humble and hardworking (his grandmother had been a dressmaker at the Lycée), so Albert returned to Barcelona to live with them, and with them he would live until his wedding, at twenty-five. Albert Pujolar studied at the national school on San Pablo Street, the Collazo and Gil, but at six years old, and thanks to his uncle, he enrolled at La Salle Condal, where he remained until fourteen. At fifteen he began working as a page in an office. Albert confesses not knowing for certain how his artistic talents were discovered, since he recalls from a young age taking refuge in drawing to forget his surroundings, something that did not go unnoticed at school, where he was put in charge of decorating the blackboards in May and the scenery for theatrical productions. Self-taught, he spent summers in the Barcelonese Gothic Quarter drawing, which taught him the basics of perspective. Thanks to Enrique Badía Romero, who was his neighbor, he began illustrating space-themed trading cards and later started working in the studio where Jorge Badía and Enrique worked, on Secretario Coloma Street at the corner with General Mitre Avenue. Through a relative connected to the Bruguera brothers, he secured an interview with Rafael González, who told him his work was not good but gave him a chance because he had been sent by a relative. This is how Albert arrived at Bruguera’s Argentina Republic studio, where he produced five or six series of Bisonte, 35-36 pages each. He was 18 and worked for Bruguera in the afternoons while he completed his military service in the mornings. Pujolar was not satisfied with making comics, so he asked Lluís Casamitjana, the studio director, for the opportunity to do covers. Casamitjana agreed to let him try, and pleased with the first one, he never returned to making comics. Prolific in his work, he came to illustrate three covers per week for the pocket-book collection and two weekly covers for Creaciones Editoriales. Simultaneously, Casamitjana secured him work in England making illustrations for war comics and for various magazines, including Valentine. He also did covers for Vértice, Molino, AFHA, Mateu, and trading cards of Rin-Tin-Tin for Marco. He then began doing romantic illustrations for Bardon Art and later for Selecciones Ilustradas, working from home. Due to his lack of personal relations with his fellow studio researchers, whom he only saw when he came to the Diagonal studio, he earned the nickname “the German” for signing his work for that country under the pseudonym “Schöller.” He co-founded the Pedralbes Tennis Club with the Sánchez Benito couple, parents of the Sánchez Vicario tennis players. He left illustration to start a galvanic baths business that failed, which caused him to return a year later with Toutain, continuing to illustrate covers and also an illustrated edition of the Bible. He briefly worked for Warren, meeting Warren himself when he visited his house in Sitges with Miralles. After leaving illustration, he focused on painting and held his first exhibition with Pepe, Miralles, Félix Mas and Petronius, in the Color 6 catalog. His next exhibition would be in Barcelona at Sala Gaudí.

Estimation:€19

Voir tous les objets deCatawikiouArts Graphiques