Tomi Ungerer
/Art

Ever restless, Ungerer worked in many mediums and styles; from illustration to collage and sculpture, from architectural design to philosophical writing to inventions and pranks.

“First of all, it should be noted that Ungerer is free.
Free to borrow different ways and voices according to his moods, anxieties and the urgency of the moment…   Nothing, nobody, can enclose him in a box. Because if he is free, it is primarily his unclassifiable dimension that characterizes him. Ungerer has traversed the history of contemporary art, dare we say, without ever seeking to position himself and even less to stand out.”

– Erik Verhagen

Tomi Ungerer Museum-International Centre for Illustration

The Tomi Ungerer Museum

A significant proportion of his artwork is exhibited at the Tomi Ungerer Museum in Strasbourg. Tomi donated 14,000 drawings to his hometown. The museum also features other illustrators from the 20th century and today, as well as Tomi Ungerer’s collection of mechanical toys.

Ungerer’s solo exhibitions include many acclaimed institutions such as the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, the Wilhelm-Busch-Museum, Hanovre, the Itabashi Art Museum, Tokyo, the Stadtmuseum, München, the Max Ernst Museum, Brühl, the Kunsthalle Würth, Schwabisch Hall, the Drawing Center, New York and in 2015/2016, the Kunsthaus, Zurich and the Folkwang Museum, Essen.

Gallery Representation:

Tomi’s work is represented by the Vallois Gallery in Paris.

Please contact the gallery directly if you are interested in purchasing original works.

Galerie Vallios, Paris

Tomi is also represented by the Michael Fuchs Gallery in Berlin.

Please contact the gallery directly if you are interested in purchasing original works.

www.michaelfuchsgalerie.com

Major collections

Major collections of Ungerer's work can be found in the following:

Philadelphia Free Library - an extensive collection of original drawings and preparatory works for Ungerer's early children's books

Kerlan Collection, Minneapolis - an extensive collection of original drawings and preparatory works for Ungerer's early children's books

Wilhelm-Busch Museum, Hanover

Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich

Cartoon Museum, Basel

Würth Collection, Schwabisch Halle

University College Cork Library

Drawings

Famous as a prolific draughtsman and illustrator, it is difficult to make a small selection of drawings to share from Tomi Ungerer’s more than sixty years of production. 

Collage

Tomi has been working with mixed media, including collage, since the beginning of his career in the 1950’s. 

Objects

Tomi has been working with mixed media since the beginning of his career in the 1950’s. 

Posters

Tomi Ungerer’s name is in some ways synonymous with posters.  He has excelled in the medium since the 1960s with successful advertising campaigns for magazines such as the Village Voice and New York Times.