Pol Rab

Biography of Pol Rab

Raymond Henri Abraham, known as Pol Rab, was born on August 25, 1898 in the 9th arrondissement of Paris and died on February 19, 1933 in Hauteville-Lompnes. He was a French cartoonist, illustrator and poster artist, recognized for his influence in the world of illustration and posters at the beginning of the 20th century.
Pol Rab illustrated the book L'Évadée d'Annie de Pène published in 1918 and designed the costumes for Phi-Phi. He lived at 40 rue Dulong in Paris. In 1923, he founded with Marcel Espiau the group "Less than thirty years", bringing together writers, journalists and artists, including notable members such as Joseph Kessel, Marcel Pagnol and Robert Desnos.
Read more
He made drawings for La Vache enragée , the official newspaper of the Commune libre de Montmartre, and in 1924 took part in the collective exhibition Les Vingt Imagiers de France , for which an album was published. In 1926, he designed the costumes for the operetta Le Divin Mensonge by Pierre Veber and Alex Madis. Pol Rab was also the creator of the dogs Ric and Rac, a fox terrier and a Scottish terrier, and the main illustrator of the weekly Ric et Rac . Ric inspired Hergé to draw Snowy, Tintin's faithful companion in The Adventures of Tintin . In 1931, he created Nénufar for the International Colonial Exhibition. In addition to his artistic activities, he organized parties and was artistic director of the Cabourg casino and 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 was living at 21 rue Dautancourt in Paris. He was the brother of the actor Georges Lannes and the companion of the actress Lucette Desmoulins, with whom he had a daughter, Odette, in 1932. His last drawings were sold at the end of 1933 for the benefit of his daughter at the Le Goupy gallery in the Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
Pol Rab leaves a lasting legacy in the world of illustration and poster art, marked by his distinctive style and influence on later artists.