Raymond de la Nezière

Raymond de la Nezière is the early French comics artist behind the signature R. de la Nézière. He is also sometimes referred to as Raoul, René or Robert de la Nézière. Both illustrator and writer, De la Nezière is mainly known for his drawings of horses and his antropomorphic animals.

De la Nézière was born in Strasbourg, but he and his family moved to Bourges in 1870. He was a childhood friend of the artists Hector Avélot and Emile-Joseph Pinchon.

He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Parigi, and began working as a book illustrator in 1892. Together with Avélot and his brothers Joseph and Georges de la Nézière, he travelled through Greece on the occasion of the Olympic Games.

His work appeared in most of the illustrated magazines of the time, including Le Jeudi de la Jeunesse ('Babylas Châtelain', 1906), Le petit Buffon illustré (1926), ABC, Lectures pour tous, L'Assiette au beurre, La Vie Parisienne, Le Rire, Mon Journal, Lisette, L'Univers Illustré, Le Sourire, La Baionette and La Semaine de Suzette ('Négrillons', 1910). In the 1930s, he was present in Pierrot - Journal pour Garçons. De la Nezière has also illustrated fairytales by La Fontaine and he was a versatile book illustrator.