Gianni De Conno left us all, a terrible loss for the illustration world and for the Bologna Children's Book Fair, who knew his talent and exhibited it at the 2004, 2005 and 2006 editions of the Illustrators’ Exhibition.
He was also awarded many national and international prizes such as the prestigious Andersen Award for the Illustrator of the Year 2005.
Gianni was a person completely devoted to the arts: born in Milan, he spent his school years between art studies at high school and Milan’s Conservatory. After graduating, he showed interest in the cinema, attending animation and scenography courses at the Civica Scuola di Cinema “Luchino Visconti” in Milan.
In his career as an illustrator, he could mix all of his artistic experiences, handling both traditional and digital techniques. He worked with the most important Italian and foreign publishing houses, with many solo and collective exhibitions held all over the world.
For BCBF Gianni was, first of all, a great friend: his suggestions, sharp vision and extraordinary generosity has been with us for so many years, and so his memory, which we will certainly share with the entire children’s publishing world thanks to a special event dedicated to him and his work for the next edition of the fair.