The cartoonist Nicole Robert is back with ” The Triplets to the beach “. Humour and tenderness have not taken a ride ! Interview.
Thirty-seven years that it lasts. Thirty-seven years old, mom of Triplets each week the beautiful days of “Madame Figaro” with his incorrigible rascals. And regale the air nothing three generations of children, the Saint-Germain-des-Pres in Japan.
Thirty-seven years as the ex-muse of Kiraz has perfected her elegant trait and lightness is chosen to chew the small things of a certain art of French living, in his books, sold over a million copies. On the occasion of the release of the last one, ” The triplets to the beach “, and Nicole Lambert received us in his garden in paris. In the meantime a future feature film ?
Also read :It is the mom of triplets ! – In the workshop of Nicole Lambert
Paris Match. The Triplets are children models, perfectly dressed and coiffed. However, you say : “The little girl, this is not me at all, I am the boys…”
Nicole Lambert. Yes, as a child, I was really a tomboy ! My mother, who was a true coquette, and a great femininity, was very worried. But the program that was suggested to me as a girl was awful… I was still offered, a day, an ironing board. I got married very young, 16 years old, and I didn’t have the right to have a bank account because I was a woman. It was the account of my husband, who was the assistant of papa. [Elle sourit.] I discovered feminism with my friend Joëlle Goron, in 1968. I don’t think I would have been able to draw things sexist.
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I have, little by little, clearing away the Triplets of their white socks and their collars of wise children
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Why, then, have imagined that this little girl traditional ?
Oh, they are traditional in their clothing, but these are real children observed. What distinguishes the Triplets, it’s just that their mom is a crazy fashion. But she raises her daughter and her boys in the same way. And the little girl of the Triplets never allows himself to do it ! I was very marked by my encounter, when I was a model, with Kiraz with whom I have lived for a very long time. I looked to her in Paris… Me, I wanted to draw a nice mom because mothers in the BD are always ugly. Often, he said to me, “All mothers are not as pretty !” I answer : “you would be Wrong ! I draw with the eyes of the children. And, in the eyes of the children, their mom is always the most beautiful in the world.”
“The Triplets to the beach “, ed Nicole Lambert, 64 pages, 14,50€. In print and on the website les-triples.com. © Nicole Lambert
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Why have modernized their looks in 1999, as well as some covers of old albums ?
I change all the time. Hergé has modified four times the image of Tintin. We don’t realize it, and yet… The children are all dressed like in the 1980s. I love fashion and I like to describe the time. In a very long time, someone will be able to take the Triplets and find there a sociology of small things. I drew the arrival of the first laptop and the first GPS. It is this technology that is the most dated, I can no longer watch “The Triplets and the modern world”, the album has too aged. [Rires.] I have, little by little, clearing away the Triplets of their white socks and their collars of wise children. I also tried to put my grandson of 3 years, it has led to some howls ! [Rires.] There, I just draw the awful sandals modern camper, in plastoque, they have them all.
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My big message, as a designer for kids is that they need to be loaded into beauty and happiness
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In 1986, you have drawn a mother of Triplets at work…
Yes, and it was a fatal error. It must embody the fantasy of the mother who has all her time to her children ! My mother was an actress and stopped when I was born. It must come from there… It is really the image of my mother. It is a pity, I have lots of ideas for gags to work, full of stories that one tells me, but it doesn’t fit, well that there is no place for dad.
You have always refused to speak of the death and you are kept away from the news for a few exceptions. Why ?
I just do a lot of planks on top of the coronavirus, because it has affected the children. But there are a number of news on the news that we don’t want that small look. My big message, as a designer for kids is that they need to be loaded into beauty and happiness when they are little, as we charge a battery. After this, no matter what happens to them in life, they can work. It is really very important and we have a huge responsibility when we create for the children.
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I’m inspired by many stories that one tells me, I am always looking for mischief
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One becomes an illustrator for youth to stay a child or to correct her own childhood ?
I had a wonderful childhood, and my idea, with the Triplets, it was to be able to return there every week. It is a miracle. You know, Sacha Guitry, when he saw his father play in the theatre, was that it was amazing and, later, he said to him : “You realize ? I get paid to play !” To me, it is the same : to draw is an immense happiness and I pay for it !
They recognize you in the street ?
Not often. What is with the celebrity designers is that you have all the advantages but not the disadvantages. On the other hand, the mailbag is always abundant and great. I’m inspired by many stories that one tells me, I am always in search of mischief. [Rires.]
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In life, I’ve always felt like a transient illegal
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You have been contributors and inspirers amazing thirty-seven years ?
Yes, Caroline of Monaco, with whom I lunched in La Baule, told me an anecdote about his son Andrea, who had drawn his father all black. She told him : “Darling, what is it is that this guy ?” and he replies : “This is dad. You are going to leave, then he is in a tux !” I drew it in “Madame Figaro”, stating, “inspired by the little Andrea Casiraghi”. I also remember a signature to Bordeaux with lots of authors, including Jean d’ormesson. It was with “Le Figaro”, the crowd was pretty chic. Suddenly, arrives a band of bikers with tattoos. We look at each other with Jean d’ormesson, asking themselves : “They are for that, in your opinion, those ?” And they were for me. [Rires.] I’ve really been readers and admirers of all kinds and of all ages.
Triplets, great readers of Paris Match. © Nicole Lambert
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Belgium has dedicated a large exhibition, but the world of the French BD seems to ignore you…
I have always been at hand. In life, I’ve always felt like a transient illegal. I am riding between the illustration for youth and the BD, and it is a medium that has long been very masculine, it has to be said. The Angoulême Festival has come to discover last year during a common exposure on the mode… tardy Recognition and discrete, but you never know. In general, I always start by dreaming and things eventually arrive. I would like a nice expo in France for 40 years, Tripled in three years.
See : “The Triplets “, season 1, on Netflix and France.tv.
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