Lisbeth Zwerger was born in Vienna in 1954. She studied at the applied arts academy in Vienna but failed to gain a degree. She started of her career as a painter and still exhibits her work quite a lot. Over the years Lisbeth has always waintained a strong connection with her publisher who gave her her big break in 1977 by publishing her first book The strange child. Lisbeth has always been fascinated by by popular tales, her favourite authors include Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson and Charles Dickens, this is what has influenced a majority of her work to date. Lisbeth prefers to illustrate European tales and the only two American books she has illustrated are The gift of the Magi(1982) and The Wizard of Oz(1996) which is one of her most well known books. Lisbeth married a fellow artist and childrens book author John Rowe whicle she was at university and along with her father the coulple had exhibitions which Lisbeth made some money from. Her teachers at university discouraged her from illustration but it was her mothers support that has gotten her where she is today, she is the person that introduced Lisbeth to her publisher Michael Neugebaure who she has worked with ever since. Lisbeth started off using pen and ink and watercolour with only a few colours to the addition of watercolour and gouache on coloured and white papers. The Wizard of Oz is an example of Lisbeth using a lot more colour. Lisbeth is a slow mover and takes a lot of time with her art, she will very rarely produce more than a book a year. When growing up Lisbeth's father was a graphic designer and her mother was a nurse. She used to visit her fathers studio and draw from a young age, but at school she was a less than promising student left by the age of 16. By the time she had dropped out of art school she had almost completely lost her passion for drawing and it wasn't until she saw a book of Illustrations by English artist Arthur Rackham that she regained her passion and began honing her creative skills.

Lisbeth describes herself as a lazy person and hates to cook and clean. In her work she draws after lunchtime and if the work is going well she will work through til 10 at night but if not she will simply stop and try again tomorrow.

"Joy comes from seeing the humerous. A mouse wearing a woolen cover around its long thin tail. A little man with a pillow on his head. A donkey and some scholars wearing the same spectacles. Maids lifting their skirts to hide their kissing princesses. Joy with the eyes emerges from stories"

Lisbeth Zwerger - "The art of Lisbeth Zwerger"