Jean-Jacques Sempé, usually known as Sempé (; 17 August 1932 – 11 August 2022), was a French cartoonist. He is known for the series of children's books he created with René Goscinny, Le Petit Nicolas, and also for his poster-like illustrations, usually drawn from a distant or high viewpoint depicting detailed countrysides or cities. For decades, he created covers for The New Yorker.

Early life

Sempé was born on 17 August 1932 in Pessac, near Bordeaux to a single mother. He was first raised by foster parents, but then his mother took him back in; she lived with his alcoholic stepfather, and the child experienced violence at home. He was expelled from school as a young man, and then failed to pass exams for the post office, a bank and the railways. He then found work selling tooth powder as a door-to-door salesman

After lying about his age, he joined the French Army in 1950, since it was "the only place that would give me a job and a bed", he subsequently explained, and would occasionally get into trouble for drawing while he was supposed to be keeping watch during guard duty. Le Petit Nicolas appeared from 1954 in Le Moustique and Sempé drew upon childhood influences and memories to illustrate the comic. In 1960, the comic Le Petit Nicolas was published in Pilote magazine. It was at the time unusual modern children's literature given that it is centred on the experience of the child, rather than an adult interpretation of the world. In general, Sempé rarely drew from life, drawing something every day, putting sketches aside when he got bored with them. He illustrated Süskind's 1991 novella Die Geschichte von Herrn Sommer.

Based on the drawings from Sempé in the series Le Petit Nicholas, the 2022 animated film Little Nicholas: Happy As Can Be is a homage to Sempé and Goscinny.

Personal life and death

Sempé's marriages to fellow artists Christina Courtois and Mette Ivers ended in divorce; he had a daughter from his second marriage.

Collections published Éditions Denoël

  • Rien n'est simple (1961)
  • ' (1962)
  • Sauve qui peut (1964)
  • Monsieur Lambert (1965)
  • La grande panique (1966) English Panic Stations
  • Saint Tropez (1968)
  • L'information consommation (1968)
  • Marcelin Caillou (1969)
  • Des hauts et des bas (1970)
  • Face à face (1972)
  • Bonjour bonsoir (1974)
  • L'ascension sociale de Monsieur Lambert (1975)
  • Simple question d'équilibre (1977)
  • Un léger décalage (1977)
  • Les musiciens (1979)
  • Comme par hasard (1981)
  • De bon matin (1983)
  • Vaguement compétitif (1985)
  • Luxe, calme et volupté (1987)
  • Par avion (1989)
  • Vacances (1990)
  • Ames sœurs (1991)
  • Insondables mystères (1993)
  • Raoul Taburin (une bicyclette à propos de son père) (1995)
  • Grands rêves (1997)
  • Beau temps (1999)
  • Multiples intentions (2003)
  • Sentiments distingués (2007)
  • Sempé à New York (2009)

Filmed portrait

  • Sempé, rêver pour dessiner (2002) – director Françoise Gallo – International Prize FIFAP UNESCO "Meilleure démarche d'artiste" DVD Digipack (fr)

Compilations

  • En avant −1967 – Pauvert
  • Quelques manifestants – 1983 – <small></small>
  • Quelques enfants – 1983 – <small></small>
  • Quelques jours de congé – 1984 – <small></small>
  • Quelques vices impunis – 1986 – <small></small>
  • Quelques romantiques – 1986 – <small></small>
  • Quelques représentations – 1987 – <small></small>
  • Quelques concerts – 1987 – <small></small>
  • Catherine Certitude (with Patrick Modiano) – 1988 – <small></small>
  • Quelques artistes et gens de lettres – 1989
  • Quelques citadins – 1989 – <small></small>
  • Quelques sentiments de culpabilité – 1991 – <small></small>
  • Quelques meneurs d'hommes – 1991 – <small></small>
  • L'histoire de Monsieur Sommer (with Patrick Süskind) – 1991 – <small></small>
  • Quelques forces obscures, éditions Denoël, 1994 <small></small>
  • Quelques mystiques – 2000 – <small></small>
  • Quelques philosophes – 2002 – <small></small>
  • Le monde Sempé – 2002 – <small></small>
  • Un peu de Paris – 2001
  • Un peu de la France – 5 November (watercolours without text)<!--
  • Sempé : livre édité en tirage limité à 500 exemplaires en 1998, reproduisant 51 dessins inédits ou couvertures du "New Yorker"; format 30x25 cm (édition galerie Martine GOSSIEAUX à Paris)
  • Sempé : livre édité en tirage limité à 500 exemplaires en 2000, reproduisant 61 dessins inédits; format 28x22 cm (édition galerie Martine GOSSIEAUX à Paris)
  • Sempé : Enfances – livre édité en tirage limité à 900 exemplaires en 2004, sans texte, reproduisant 40 dessins en partie inédits; format 33x24 cm (édition galerie Martine GOSSIEAUX à Paris)-->

References

  • lambiek.net entry on Sempé