Raymond Henri Abraham, known as Pol Rab, born on August 25, 1898, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris and died on February 19, 1933, in Hauteville-Lompnes, was a French cartoonist, illustrator, and poster artist.
His beginnings (1918–1923)
Pol Rab illustrated L'Évadée by Annie de Pène, published in 1918. He designed the costumes for Phi-Phi. He resided at 40 rue Dulong in Paris.
The "Moins de trente ans" group (1923)
In 1923, he co-founded with Marcel Espiau the "Moins de trente ans" group, which brought together writers, journalists, and artists. Among its members, who had to be unanimously elected, were: Joseph Kessel, Marcel Pagnol, Robert Desnos, Marcel Aymé, Steve Passeur, Armand Salacrou, Marcel Achard, Édouard Bonnefous, Pierre Lazareff, Jacques Natanson, Jean Fayard, Pierre Bost, Julien Duvivier, Julien Carette, Simon Arbellot, Emmanuel Bove, Georges Auric, Georges Charensol, Henri Jeanson, James de Coquet, Claude Aveline, André Beucler, Julien Green, René Lefèvre, Pierre-Jean Launay, Pierre Ogouz, Roger Giron, and Louis Chéronnet.
He created drawings for La Vache enragée, the "official newspaper" of the Free Commune of Montmartre.
Exhibitions and creations (1924–1926)
In 1924, he participated in the collective exhibition Les Vingt Imagiers de France. An album was published for the occasion.
In 1926, he designed the costumes for the operetta Le Divin Mensonge by Pierre Veber and Alex Madis.
Ric and Rac, and the inspiration for Snowy
Pol Rab was the creator of the two dogs Ric and Rac, a fox terrier and a Scottish terrier, and the main illustrator of the weekly magazine Ric et Rac. Ric inspired Hergé to draw Snowy, Tintin's loyal companion in The Adventures of Tintin.
Artistic Director and later years (1931–1933)
In 1931, he created Nénufar for the International Colonial Exposition. A party organizer, he was the artistic director of the Cabourg casino, then of the Palm Beach in Cannes.
He died prematurely at the Hauteville sanatorium on February 19, 1933. His funeral was held on February 23 in Barbizon, where he was buried. At the time of his death, he resided at 21 rue Dautancourt in Paris.
He was the brother of actor Georges Lannes and the partner of actress Lucette Desmoulins, with whom he had a daughter, Odette, in 1932. At the end of 1933, his last drawings were sold for the benefit of his daughter at the Le Goupy gallery in the Faubourg Saint-Honoré.