Designers pay homage to Sempé: our selection

The disappearance at the age of 89 of the French cartoonist Sempé, known for his illustrations of the adventures of “Little Nicholas” and his humorous cartoons left many of his loyal readers in disarray. Among them, many designers have taken up the pen to pay a last tribute to the man born in 1932. No wonder if we are to believe the American designer Miles Hyman. Asked by Release, he recalls that Sempé influenced ” several generations of designers ».

Among these tributes, one of the most remarkable is that of Joann Sfar, known for his series The Rabbi’s Cat. The author shared not one, but two drawings honoring Sempé. The first represents a cat, above which are written the words ” Sempe is dead. It’s the first time I’ve been sure that a god is in heaven ».

“Sempé will be missed by the world”

The second original drawing by Sfar represents an old lady in a church, a veritable guide to Sempé’s drawings. A longer text accompanies it on Instagram« I am thinking of his cyclists, his waiters, his Augustians in Saint-Tropez and his New Yorkers. I think of children and pretty girls that no one drew like him. His characters alone facing the immensity of a swimming pool or an office. For reasons similar to me, I think above all of his old believers. Sempé will be missed by the world.

Plantu, former draftsman of Monde, also devoted a drawing to his late colleague. Invited to testify France Interhe told a beautiful anecdote: I went to museums where there were drawings by Sempé, I heard people laughing, with a pretty simplicity. I think he gave dignity to silence. » And to add: “Sempé white is already a line”.

In the Swiss daily Time with whom he collaborates regularly, the cartoonist Patrick Chappatte also paid tribute to Sempé, with a beautiful drawing which insists on the importance of the work of the cartoonist who was also a poet for the youngest.

The designer Catel, author for example of a comic strip retracing the life of the pioneer of cinema Alice Guy, for her part chose the portrait to thank Sempé for her work. On his shoulder, a happy and inevitable “Little Nicolas”, and in caption on his Instagram account these few words: “Mr. Sempé, you are immortal! “.

Alfred, another comic book author whose album Like before was rewarded in 2014 at the Angoulême festival, he shared a drawing of brilliant simplicity, showing a cyclist pulling his hat, while his wheels traced the letters of the name of the deceased.