Sempé in America

Sempé is not a household name in America today, yet his art is well-known throughout the rest of the world. He co-created the comic strip Le Petit Nicolas with René Goscinny, the creator of Asterix. Over sixty years later, Le Petit Nicolas has achieved immense success, selling millions of copies, being translated into 45 languages, and inspiring a series of films. While America might not have known Sempé, he held a deep affection for the country. The stories of Nicolas possess a timeless, almost fable-like quality. Sempé’s fame with The New Yorker is a delightful paradox—a culture often immune to irony idolizing one of its masters.

Sempé had a sincere love for everyday people: Sunday painters, fanatical cyclists, weary musicians, and hopeful ballerinas. His art was never sentimental but always compassionate, offering viewers hope within each frame.

Since 1978, over 100 of Sempé’s drawings have appeared in The New Yorker. These illustrations don’t always depict New York or rely on humor. Instead, they present poetic scenes that subtly blend with reality, portraying an artist’s melancholic relationship with life’s small details, and exploring themes of life and death. Like a mirror reflecting our image, his work invites cheerful introspection with an anxious yet kind irony.

Sempé was an unparalleled observer of the human condition

Everyone harbors their vision of America, shaped by a blend of books, music, films, dreams, and fantasies. French cartoonist Sempé, during his travels, encountered a world that captivated, impressed, and astonished him. Enchanted by jazz, he was also occasionally unsettled by the vast freedom that seemed to pervade the country. His keen eye missed nothing of the new lifestyles and scenes unfolding in the streets. Beyond the realism of certain sketches and drawings, Sempé, ever the vigilant documentarian, maintained his admiration and clarity. He presents us with his perspective of America through a poetic journey, where humor delicately guides the reader, revealing the subtle nuances of his experience.

• Beautiful 170 full-color illustrations
• French flaps and highest-quality production values for color reproduction
• The most complete collection of artist’s works

“No-one,” Sempé once told Radio France, “portrays a childhood by ‘remaining a child’. That idea of ‘eternal innocence’ is wrong; no one relives his childhood. You reassemble, work with tiny elements, and maybe brighten a memory. But it’s always an exercise in D-I-Y.”

When Sempé passed away at the age of eighty-nine, French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted, “[He] had the grace to always remain light-hearted without ever missing a beat.” The tribute was one of many from both sides of the Atlantic; he was the rare Gallic artist who was beloved by Americans but managed never to lose his appeal in the eyes of his compatriots.

The writer Charles McGrath once compared him to Brigitte Bardot, saying, “He’s a national institution who has acquired an almost universal appeal by remaining quintessentially French.”

Jean-Jacques Sempé, usually known as JJ (August 17, 1932 – August 11, 2022), was a French cartoonist. He is known for his poster-like illustrations, usually drawn from a distant or high perspective and depicting detailed country landscapes or cities. For decades, he created covers for The New Yorker.