Jean-Jacques Sempé
Sunday, January 1, 2012 Happy New Year to one and all!
I had a lovely peaceful christmas break, but I'm sorry for the long radio silence. Before the year ended I spent a few weeks in Paris. The trip was very beautiful and full of great discoveries. A good friend came out to visit for the weekend, and we went to the free Sempé exhibition at Hôtel de Ville. It had over 300 original drawings, and we both thoroughly enjoyed it (see a video of the exhibition here).
If you aren't familiar with Sempé I encourage you to look out some of his books. I really enjoyed seeing his covers for The New Yorker, and his more experimental work, the sheer volume of work was astounding. It was also the first exhibition I've been to where the crowd were all smiling broadly, and laughing, as they walked around.
I also wanted to share this excellent clip of the title credits for the Petit Nicolas film they made in 2009. The film is shot in live action, but they used the original Sempé drawings for the credits, in a very inventive way. Take a look!
Reader Comments (2)
We LOVE the film at home. They did an animation series a few years ago too, but it wasn't as good.
Le Petit Nicolas is a real children's classic in France. I still have all of my French copies. and I have brought them to England with me. Though the hardback Phaidon editions are rather gorgeous I have to say!
I love the hardback editions too... I saw a lot of love for Sempe in Paris, wish the books at the exhibition hadn't been so pricey, or so heavy for my suitcase!
Katie