LONDON, April 1 -- Glen Baxter, the artist and cartoonist best known in his native Britain for his oddball greetings cards but seen as a "genius" abroad, has died in London aged 82.

Baxter died on Sunday surrounded by his family, the French Semiose public relations agency which represented him said in a statement.

In France, Baxter was hailed as the king of "British phlegm" and a master of the absurd.

Semiose described Baxter's work as "bewildering nonsensical and tragi-comic, like life itself".

"Glen Baxter's oeuvre is immediately recognisable. He has remained true to his simple and highly effective process for almost fifty years: a comic sketch is accompanied by a short, incongruous, even discordant caption," it said.

Baxter was bo...