Robert Lips
Biographical information
| Roles | Competed in Olympic Games |
|---|---|
| Sex | Male |
| Full name | Robert•Lips |
| Used name | Robert•Lips |
| Born | 21 August 1912 in Zürich, Zürich (SUI) |
| Died | 28 February 1975 in Wallisellen, Zürich (SUI) |
| Affiliations | Cercle des Armes de Lausanne, Lausanne (SUI) |
| NOC |  Switzerland |
Biography
Swiss painter and cartoonist Robert Lips participated in the Art Competitions of the 1936 Berlin and the 1948 London Olympics. He also participated in London as a fencer, finishing fifth in team epée and being eliminated in the second round of the individual epée. He was nominated as a fencer in 1936, but was unable to compete due to injury.
At only 19-years-old, as an architecture student, Lips was happy to win a 1931 poster competition from the Globus department store, but he had not dreamed when he developed the comic character “Globi” that it would later become a best selling Swiss comic. The comic survived him, and many generations of children still enjoy it, with more than 9 million copies having been sold. The first picture stories appeared in 1934 in the Globe Magazine of the Globus department stores, and they were later continued in the “Globi” picture stories. In addition to being a cartoonist, Lips also worked as a painter, although this was less well known.
Robert Lips’ oil paintings submitted in 1936 could be clearly identified by the illustration in the catalog and by a photo from the exhibition hall, respectively. Quite confusing is the information on the homepage of the artist that a consignment note of the Berlin art exhibition can been found on the verso of the painting La Croix d’Ouchy. This painting shows the Crucifixion, so without any reference to sports. The attribution of the other drawings and graphic prints, however, is ambiguous. A number of drawings from this period are known. In the 1936 catalog, however, they are simply listed as Drawing (I to VI). The posters, too, were perhaps only general sketches and could not be assigned to any particular event. Posters for topics of swimming and athletics were printed in 1942, possibly based on the submitted designs.
In 1948, Lips was represented once again with three charcoal drawings. Here, too, the assignment is uncertain, since there are usually several drawings of the respective motifs. Altogether, Lips entered 16 works, 13 in 1936 and 3 in 1948.