Yan Nascimbene illustrations are watercolours of magnificent description; flawless designs capable of great storytelling; clean sinous lines; and a palette made fit for perfection as though he had just grabbed the hues of the world and dropped them on to paper.
There are parallels of course to Ukiyo-e (Japanese woodblock prints of the 17-19th century) in particular the artists; Hiroshi Yoshida and Hasui Kawase, but Nascimbene made his own mark as an independent artist and infused within his style a sense of fairy-tales and magic. His images drawn from the imagination, and what a beautiful one it is.
In many of Nascimbene’s images, his colours are often beautifully paired, and are both soft and comforting, whilst having the subtlety of an overarching colour. Balancing a lightness to his work through the most delicate of applications and leaving a sense of something akin to crisp fresh air – which combined with his predominant scenes of nature, produce a longing for the great outdoors.
Illustration from Antibes, Clavière et Autres Couleurs by Italo Calvino, 1992. Yan Nascimbene.
In his award-winning career, Nascimbene captured the dreamscapes of many an author’s words, with over 50 illustrated books, and with his distinctive style gracing the front of 300 more. His prolific career as an artist meant Nascimbene was never far from a pencil, with his illusions appearing in illustrious magazines and for high-end clients including Time, The New Yorker and Estée Lauder etc. However, he’s most renowned work and one he was most proud of was in illustrating the writings of Italo Calvino’s; Aventures, Le Baron Perché (The Baron in the Trees) and Palomar. Nascimbene was also an accomplished author, writing and illustrating the memoirs of his life in; Antibes, Clavière et Autres Couleurs. His art, as always, having the power to provide a whole narrative in just one image alone. This ability to understand and produce a story is further highlighted by his writing and directing of the feature film The Mediterranean which was shown in festivals across the world in the early 1980s.
Illustration from Le Baron Perché (The Baron in the Trees) by Italo Calvino, 2005. Yan Nascimbene
Initially a photographer, Nascimbene later moved to illustrations, and I can’t help but feel that this early beginning in his artistic career would go on to affect the latter, his compositions well balanced, his framing perfect and he masterfully used space to create a great sense of scale. Nascimbene knew instinctively where to centre the focus of his illustrations – drawing the viewers eye straight to it. An expert in the use of light, Nascimbene could induce the mood of the illustration in an instant, and keep it with you long after.
b. 1949 – d. 2013
