Lluís Juste de Nin was a Spanish illustrator, cartoonist and fashion designer. He worked as creative director for the Spanish fashion label Armand Basi. His work was first published in the 1960s. His cartoons were used in the publications of the political opposition to Francisco Franco. In these publications, Juste de Nin signed his work, "El Zurdo". For many years, he was engaged in creating illustrations for articles by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán in Mundo Obrero.
Career
After the restoration of the Generalitat de Catalunya and ratification of the Spanish constitution of 1978, Juste de Nin was commissioned by the new Catalan Government to create a drawn character that, along with the texts of "Tísner", would form the basis of a campaign to normalise the Catalan language. The character he drew was La Norma. Through the 1980s, Juste de Nin contributed with a weekly page to the periodical magazine, Canigó in a series called Petant la xerrada which illustrated contemporary Catalan life. He signed these drawings, L’Esquerrà. In 2006, Juste de Nin was commissioned to design the float for the "Three Kings Parade". The parade was dedicated to a "Year of the Book". On his float, a jubilant Don Quixote and Sancho stood surrounded by children holding giant crayons. The characters rode on a large book illustrated with Rocinante’s head. Juste de Nin was the costume designer for the September 2008 world premiere of the opera, La Celestina at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid. He was also a member of the Cercle Catalanista de l'Ateneu Barcelonès, of the Foundation Andreu Nin; a partner at Òmnium Cultural; and member of the Patronat of the National Museum of Art in Catalonia.
Selected works
Croniques a Llapis – fiction series based on the history of Catalonia of the 19th and 20th centuries
Montecristo 1941 was a graphic novel based on Alexandre Dumas' work. It is set in Barcelona in the time of Francisco Franco beginning in 1941 and ending with the return of Josep Tarradellas.
Barcelona 1931 is an adaptation of Gustave Flaubert's work. It is set in republican and revolutionary Barcelona and tells the story of Frederic Morell, a student of laws.
El Quart Poder is an adaptation of Guy de Maupassant's Bel Ami. It is set in 1920s Barcelona at the time of Miguel Primo de Rivera. It describes the world of the press, nocturnal life and canalla of the city.
La Muntanya Magica is an adaption of Thomas Mann's work, set between 1900 and 1914.
La Fira de les Vanitats is a revision of William Thackeray's Vanity Fair, set in 1800s Barcelona.
La Guerra dels Besavis is set in Catalonia in 1833. It is a story of love and war over a seven year period, telling of "carlinda", "carlines" and "isabelins".
Rauxa, la Catalunya Rebel, 1925 to 1931 is the story of "des Anées Folles", the exiles of Catalan to Paris during the reign of Miguel Primo de Rivera. A journalist, Pep Pubill must escape from Barcelona after a serious misunderstanding. He joins the Catalinist movement and journeys with Macià from the Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste to Uruguay, Argentina, Cuba and New York City.
Quan de tu S'Allunya, de l'ocupació de Paris a la caça de bruixes. This story tells of the escape of Catalan people from German occupied Paris in June 1940. It tells of the New York exiles such as "Met" Miravitlles, Fontsere, "Shum", Joaquim Maurin and the Pubils, the characters from Rauxa. In the United States, they find themselves under the threat of McCarthyism.
Andreu Nin, siguiendo tus pasos, Andreu Nin immerses himself in the political and family life of Joaquim Maurin the Catalan revolutionary Marxist who founded POUM. Nin was assassinated in 1937 by Stalin's agents.
Itaca "The Odyssey” set in the Mediterranean of 1936. Designer of the costumes for the Don Juan musical, A Sangre y Fuego, with music by Mexican composer Antonio Calvo and under the artistic direction of Ignacio Garcia, which with Hispanic-Mexican production, premiered at the Luz Phillips theatre, Madrid on 6 October 2016.
GARBO, El espía catalán que engañó a Hitler : This is a story of two Catalans, one fictional, Roger Corbella, and the other Joan Pujol “ Garbo”, a real person, who met at a young age while fighting in the terrible battle of the Ebro. Joan Pujol played an important role in the Second World War by deceiving Hitler into believing that the allied invasion would be in Calais and not Normandy.
VERGÜENZA! "La grandeur touchée"
EL NOISalvador Seguí : Vida y muerte de un hombre libre.
Graphic novels
Els Nin
Montecristo 1941
El Guepard1970
Barcelona 1931
El Quart Poder
La Muntanya Magica
La Fira de les Vanitats
La Guerra dels Besavis
Rauxa
Quan de tu s' Allunya
Itaca
Andreu Nin
Garbo, El espía catalán que engaño a Hitler
Vergüenza! La grandeur touchée
El Noi. Vida y muerte de un hombre libre
Awards
In 2003, Juste de Nin received the Catalan presidents' Antoni Gaudi medal for creativity. In 2010, he received an inaugural Nautilus prize at Comic City, Badalona, for his contribution to Catalan comics.
