François Schuiten (born 26 April 1956) is a Belgian comic book artist. He is best known for drawing the series Les Cités Obscures.
Biography
right|thumb|[[Arts et Métiers (Paris Metro)|Arts et Métiers Métro station in Paris, drawn up by François Schuiten]]
François Schuiten was born in Brussels, Belgium, in 1956.
His father, Robert Schuiten, and his mother, Marie-Madeleine De Maeyer, were both architects. He has five brothers and sisters, one of whom is also an architect.
During his studies at the Saint-Luc Institute in Brussels (1975–1977), he met , who led the comics department at the school. Together they created several books. Schuiten's brother also worked with him several times as a writer for the series Terres Creuses.
Schuiten published his first comic on 3 May 1973, consisting of five black and white pages in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Pilote; four years later he was published in the more experimental magazine Métal Hurlant. He worked with Benoît Sokal and Martin Villeneuve on the script of Aquarica, a film that would use CGI and motion capture technology., but the project was abandoned due to the death of Benoît Sokal
As a scenographer, Schuiten designed the metro stations of Porte de Hal/Hallepoort in Brussels and Arts et Métiers in Paris, and a mural in Brussels. In 2000, he designed the scenography for A planet of visions, one of the main pavilions of the Expo 2000 in Hannover, which attracted more than five million visitors. In 2004–05, a large exhibition was held in Leuven, The Gates of Utopia, showing different aspects of his work. He also created the interior of the Belgian pavilion at the Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan, with the painter Alexandre Obolensky. François Schuiten has also designed fifteen Belgian stamps.
Schuiten together with Peeters also helped to save and subsequently restore the Autrique House in Brussels, the first house designed by Art Nouveau architect Victor Horta.
Awards
- 2025: Honorary doctorate VUB and ULB
- 2022: Eisner award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material: The Shadow of a Man
- 2013: Grand Prize in the Manga category of the Japan Media Arts Festival
- 2002: Made a baron by King Albert II of Belgium
- 2002: Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême, France
- 1998: Special Prize of the Jury at the Max & Moritz Prizes, Erlangen, Germany
- 1996: Inkpot Award, U.S.
- 1987: Grand Prix at the festival of Sierre, Switzerland
- 1985: Award for the Best Comic Book at the Angoulême International Comics Festival, France
- 1983: Samaris, the first book of Les Cités Obscures, is chosen as one of the 20 best books of the year by French magazine Lire
Bibliography
- Les Cités Obscures: 1983-, 11 albums and some specials, with Benoît Peeters: Casterman
- Dolorès: 1991, 1 album, artist Anne Baltus: Casterman
- Express: 1981, 1 album, with Claude Renard: Magic-Strip
- Les Machinistes: 1 album, 1984, with Claude Renard: Les Humanoïdes Associés
- Métamorphoses: 2 albums, 1980–1982, with Claude Renard: Les Humanoïdes Associés
- Plagiat!: 1 album, 1989, with Benoît Peeters, written by Goffin: Les Humanoïdes Associés
- Souvenirs de l'éternel present: 1 album, 1993, written by Benoît Peeters: Arboris
- La Douce: 1 album, 2012: Casterman (translated into English as The Beauty).
- Les terres creuses: 3 albums, 1980–1990, written by Luc Schuiten: Les Humanoïdes Associés
Works by François Schuiten have been translated in most European languages, including Dutch, German, Danish and English .