BIOGRAPHY:
"Sempé may work in a minor storytelling key as compared
to other cartoonists of his equivalent skill... but the elegance
with which Sempé cartoons, the balance he finds between
individual detail and evocative whole, makes his work worth every
long moment it takes to fully appreciate it."
Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Journal #258
Jean Jacques Sempé (1932- ) was born in Bordeaux. Having
been expelled from college, he failed to pass entrance examinations
for the Post Office, a bank and the French railways and so he became
a traveling toothpaste salesman. Determined to become an artist
in Paris but having no money, Sempé joined the army and
elected to do his national service there. Having served periods
of detention for drawing instead of keeping watch, in 1952 Sempé received
an award given to encourage young artists to turn professional.
Thus began a cartooning career spanning, so far, half a century.
He currently lives in Paris and is one
of France's most celebrated cartoonists, best known for his comics
series, Le Petit Nicolas, written
by René Goscinny. He has also been a contributor to The
New Yorker magazine
since 1978, where his inimitable style, flair for satire and
tragi-comic vision place him on a par with the American cartoonist
James Thurber.
Interviews:
The New York Times (2006)
The Independent (2006)
Federation
of Cartoonists (2001)
Resources:
Petit Nicolas
René Goscinny
The Ecomonist: A Horde Of Words & Pictures
Sempé Photo Gallery
Reviews:
Comics
Reporter: World According To Sempé |
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ESSENTIAL READING: |
Phaidon, 1962
Monsieur Lambert is the story of a group of regulars at a Parisian bistro,
who see each other for lunch every day, without fail. They are creatures of
habit, eating the same set meals on the same day, week in and week out. One
day, however, one of their group, Monsieur Lambert, does not turn up at the
usual time, and the other regulars soon turn to speculating as to the reasons
for the sudden and unexpected changes in their fellow diner - it surely must
be because of a woman, they conclude. Why else would Monsieur Lambert not appear
until twenty to two on one day, but already be eating his main course by the
time the rest of them arrive for lunch the very next day? Why does he develop
a taste for terrine, a dish he has previously always despised? The diners are
right: Lambert has indeed met a wonderful woman, Florence. This revelation
changes everything, and instead of discussing football and politics as usual,
the other diners in the bistro start reminiscing about women they have loved
and lost, about passionate affairs in their past, all the while continuing
to take a keen interest in Monsieur Lambert and his Florence. Can this new
state of affairs continue? After all, women come and go, but football has always
been, and will always be, a part of their lives.
"What I was trying to do in Monsieur Lambert was
to capture a certain 'bonhomie', a kind of simple easy relationship
between people, especially men. I don't think that exists today."
Sempé |
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by Patrick Süskind, illustrated by Sempé
Bloomsbury, 2003
A boy finds his peaceful village life disturbed by the frequent sight
of the eccentric Mr Sommer. From early in the morning till late at
night, Mr Sommer is out walking, marching through the landscape like
a man possessed with his empty rucksack and his walking stick. What
is the point of Mr Sommer's endless walks? Where do his wanderings
take him? And why is he so anxious? Nobody seems to know. And as the
boy goes about his days, tree-climbing, bicycling and going to school,
Mr Sommer's strange compulsion becomes ever more a mystery.
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Harville Press, 2001
"It's hard to imagine Sempé doing a shorthand kind of drawing.
Even his sketches imply the detail of a full finished product. He
always draws well, too well to be a simple gag man, and started drawing
better and better, until his drawings could stand on their own without
being particularly funny, indeed without being funny at all... The
drawings in this book are not always funny and not always meant to
be, but there is a difference: you go on looking at them for a long,
long time."
Miles Kington, from the introduction
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Workman Publishing, 1980
The musician's world is captured by Sempé in 65 poignant, funny
and utterly memorable drawings.
"Sempé's musicians resound with his extraordinary genius.
His fascination with the comedy of music making is a wonderful play
on the nobility of music and the frailty of musicians. His vision
is compassionate, ironic, lyrical and very funny."
Edward Koran
"Sempe is a comedic genius, who gives all of us musicians the invaluable
gift of redeeming our solemnity with the grace of humor."
Leonard
Bernstein
"There is something so very touching about his work, based on the
contrast between his message and the meticulousness of his detail."
Saul
Steinberg
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edited by Francoise Mouly
Abbeville Press, 2000
This superb book presents not only the best of The New Yorker's
covers from it's 75 year history but also a behind the scenes peek at some of
the sketches that lead up to them and a look at the controversy that sometimes
followed in their wake. An article by Francoise Mouly illuminates the history
of the magazine's cover and how they have changed over the decades. In addition,
portfolios throughout the book highlight the work of six especially evocative
cover artists: Barry Blitt, Bruce McCall, Sempé, Edward Sorel, Art
Spiegelman and Saul
Steinberg.
"That magazine has given Sempé a lucrative outlet in
his long autumn as a world cartoonist, and he in turn has given it
some of his classiest and most delicately realised work."
The Comics Journal #258 |
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| SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY: |
Books:
Mixed Messages (2003)
The Story Of Mr Sommer (2003)
The World According To Sempé (2001)
Sunny Spells (1999)
Par Avion (1991)
The Musicians (1980)
Everything Is Complicated (1963)
Monsieur Lambert (1962)
Nothing Is Simple (1962)
Le Petit Nicolas:
Le Petit Nicolas (1960)
Les Récrés du Petit Nicolas (1961)
Les Vacances du Petit Nicolas (1962)
Le Petit Nicolas et les Copains (1963)
Le Petit Nicolas a des Ennuis (1964)
Histoires Inédites de Petit Nicolas (2004)
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Monsieur
Lambert
The
Story Of Mr Sommer
The World
According To Sempé 
The Musicians
Covering The New Yorker