The world of comics also salutes the creator of a work full of poetry and bonhomie: “Sempé is dead. It is the first time that I have the certainty that a God is in heaven”, testified in particular Joann Sfar, the author of the “Cat of the Rabbi”.
Awarded in 2010 in Angoulême
Sempé did not consider himself a comic book author, preferring to stick to the tradition of humorous drawing, not to that of cartooning. However, he had many admirers at the Angoulême Festival, where each of his boards, each of his exposed sketches always creates the event.
We remember that in 2020, Catherine Meurisse had been moved and troubled by the discovery of an original. The one who had just been elected to the Academy of Fine Arts had also asked to be able to watch it alone, far from the crowd and the cameras…
In 2010, the 36e Festival d’Angoulême had awarded a Fauve d’or to Sempé. The honorary distinction had been given to him by Blutch, during the opening ceremony.
Jean-Jacques Sempé receiving a Fauve d’or, in Angoulême, in 2010, during the 36th International Comics Festival.
Isabelle Louvier/“South West” Archives
The same year, the Hennessy merchant in Cognac had devoted a major summer exhibition to the work of Sempé for the magazine “New Yorker”. The designer, then 78 years old, was unable to honor the opening with his presence. He was represented by Martine Gossiaux, his gallery owner, and his friend Marc Lecarpentier, former boss of “Télérama”.
At Hennessy, we really liked the sensitivity of Sempé and his family. In 2009, the number 1 of Cognac had asked his daughter Inga, designer, to create a box for the prestigious Richard-Hennessy cuvée. In 2003, the trader set up a first Sempé exhibition in Cognac: visitors were greeted by fake roses that bowed as they passed.
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