The funeral of designer Jean-Jacques Sempé, who died on August 11 at the age of 89, took place this Friday at the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, in Paris, in the presence of his wife. Martine Gossieaux-Sempé and her relatives. He left his mark on several generations of readers of the press and his albums with the humor and poetry of his sketches. He was also one of the most prominent artists in the New Yorker, with a hundred covers between 1978 and 2019. He remains for posterity the creator, with René Goscinny in 1959, of Petit Nicolas, schoolboy with a tender heart whose adventures have become a classic of literature.
Tributes poured in this Friday, to honor his memory. “You have created Little Nicolas. You made every childhood smile. Today you found yourself I’m sure, and I hear you laughing to tears“said author Anne Goscinny at her funeral.”Sempé’s drawing, with its smile and its elegance, made life look less hopeless.“, for his part greeted the writer Benoît Duteurtre. “He paid tribute to “the craftsman who spent hours at the desk, (…) faithful to the tradition of human drawing.mour with his rhythmic gags” but who also excelled “in large images” and “could be a landscaper“.
“Someone with deep lightness”
“He was a friend. Then, it’s someone who dug a little the emergency exits in a reality that suffocates us a little, with a delicious humor and at the same time more significant than we think. He was someone with a deep lightness” then confided the actor and director Jean-Michel Ribes.
A few days ago, just after the announcement of his death, it was the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron who wanted to pay tribute to the artist. “His look and his pencil will be sorely missed. From Petit Nicolas to Monsieur Lambert, to the walkers of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, he had the elegance to always remain light without anything escaping him.” he said. Following the funeral, Sempé was buried privately in the Montparnasse cemetery.