🧒 Kids

It doesn't matter if there are two of us, seems to say Jean-Jacques Sempé on this tasty drawing where we find all his art of detail, composition and shifting. The draftsman has made himself the observer par excellence of the small twists and winks of everyday life, in the city or at the sea, from France to the United States. The infinite is in constant dialogue with the infinitesimal, solitude with the crowd, intimacy with the sociological.

With Jean-Jacques Sempé, let's rediscover the nostalgic perfume of rear platform buses. "We used to catch terrible colds but that was part of life in Paris! "recalls the designer who made Paris an inexhaustible source of inspiration. An undisputed master of the art of detail, an eternal music lover, Sempé conjures up the subtle shadows of Duke Ellington, Yves Montand or the pianist Samson François, but also memories of the political struggle between communists and anti-communists in the heyday of the 1960s.

Under Jean-Jacques Sempé's pencil, the little joys of childhood become these indelible memories that we remember with a nostalgic smile. Here, the sacred bathing of the summer vacations, impatiently awaited the rest of the year, becomes a swarm of children, stirred up in the immensity of the ocean. We swim, splash, float, splash... a wave of carefree happiness, before the big plunge into adult life.

Whatever Jean-Jacques Sempé's drawings, there are always at least two worlds that overlap. While adults sadden by the weather, grey and dull, children enjoy and snort freely, red with pleasure and drunk with games. It's a real invitation to see life differently, and try to keep a child's look in everything, free and offbeat!

After Paris, New York is the city of predilection for Jean-Jacques Sempé's drawings. Unique for a Frenchman, he drew 101 covers of The New Yorker, fulfilling his teenage dream. Who can capture the poetry and irony of the megalopolis with such subtlety, if not this detail artist with a humorous look? With Sempé New York is a festival of colors and styles, through its communities, its rites and its incessant movement.

For several years now, Soledad has been collaborating with Image Republic, creating a very colourful collection of feminine illustrations.

On three we go? Many of Jean-Jacques Sempé's drawings celebrate the joy of being together. Childish friendships of a summer or a lifetime, in a duo or in an organized gang... but always to make the 400 moves, because it's still too early to be wise. Our little group in swimsuit fuse arm in arm to reach the sea, in an impatient and carefree moment where we hurry to be happy.

“When I’m grown up, I will buy myself a classroom, but just so that I can play in it.” Goscinny invented a child’s language that appealed to children and made their parents smile. Paired with Sempé’s wonderful drawings, the stories of Little Nicholas became international bestsellers and achieved the status of classics of French literature. The small schoolboy’s success was primarily based on the amazing closeness of a magical duo: Goscinny and Sempé. The two young authors created a whole universe. “Goscinny turned up with a text in which a child, Nicolas, talked about his life with his friends, who all had strange names - Rufus, Alceste, Maixent, Agnan, Clotaire - while the assistant principal was called Bouillon (Broth). We were on the way: René had hit on the right formula”, said Sempé. Little Nicolas’ first adventure was published on 29 March 1959 in Sud Ouest Dimanche. The response from the newspaper’s readership was enthusiastic. For seven years, Goscinny and Sempé brought alive Nicolas every single week, creating 222 stories in the process. They brought alive their own childhood memories through Nicolas and his friends. “Although I was never a Gaul or a cowboy, I was a child, as was Sempé, of course. The stories were inspired by his memories and my own memories, feelings rather than actual memories, such as the smell of pain au chocolat at the end of the school day, the atmosphere at playtime, all the bustle of childhood that Sempé really and truly captured”, said Goscinny. 

For several years now, Soledad has been collaborating with Image Republic, creating a very colourful collection of feminine illustrations.

Playmate, mute confidant, sidekick of nonsense ... If the dog is man's best friend, it is no less the child's best friend. The drawer Jean-Jacques Sempé excels at depicting with tenderness these moments of complicity, which give the exquisite feeling of being alone in the world. The sun is setting but our 6-legged duo seems determined to embark on new adventures, with a good step and a good mood.

“When I’m grown up, I will buy myself a classroom, but just so that I can play in it.” Goscinny invented a child’s language that appealed to children and made their parents smile. Paired with Sempé’s wonderful drawings, the stories of Little Nicholas became international bestsellers and achieved the status of classics of French literature. The small schoolboy’s success was primarily based on the amazing closeness of a magical duo: Goscinny and Sempé. The two young authors created a whole universe. “Goscinny turned up with a text in which a child, Nicolas, talked about his life with his friends, who all had strange names - Rufus, Alceste, Maixent, Agnan, Clotaire - while the assistant principal was called Bouillon (Broth). We were on the way: René had hit on the right formula”, said Sempé. Little Nicolas’ first adventure was published on 29 March 1959 in Sud Ouest Dimanche. The response from the newspaper’s readership was enthusiastic. For seven years, Goscinny and Sempé brought alive Nicolas every single week, creating 222 stories in the process. They brought alive their own childhood memories through Nicolas and his friends. “Although I was never a Gaul or a cowboy, I was a child, as was Sempé, of course. The stories were inspired by his memories and my own memories, feelings rather than actual memories, such as the smell of pain au chocolat at the end of the school day, the atmosphere at playtime, all the bustle of childhood that Sempé really and truly captured”, said Goscinny. 

For several years now, Soledad has been collaborating with Image Republic, creating a very colourful collection of feminine illustrations.

For several years now, Soledad has been collaborating with Image Republic, creating a very colourful collection of feminine illustrations.

“When I’m grown up, I will buy myself a classroom, but just so that I can play in it.” Goscinny invented a child’s language that appealed to children and made their parents smile. Paired with Sempé’s wonderful drawings, the stories of Little Nicholas became international bestsellers and achieved the status of classics of French literature. The small schoolboy’s success was primarily based on the amazing closeness of a magical duo: Goscinny and Sempé. The two young authors created a whole universe. “Goscinny turned up with a text in which a child, Nicolas, talked about his life with his friends, who all had strange names - Rufus, Alceste, Maixent, Agnan, Clotaire - while the assistant principal was called Bouillon (Broth). We were on the way: René had hit on the right formula”, said Sempé. Little Nicolas’ first adventure was published on 29 March 1959 in Sud Ouest Dimanche. The response from the newspaper’s readership was enthusiastic. For seven years, Goscinny and Sempé brought alive Nicolas every single week, creating 222 stories in the process. They brought alive their own childhood memories through Nicolas and his friends. “Although I was never a Gaul or a cowboy, I was a child, as was Sempé, of course. The stories were inspired by his memories and my own memories, feelings rather than actual memories, such as the smell of pain au chocolat at the end of the school day, the atmosphere at playtime, all the bustle of childhood that Sempé really and truly captured”, said Goscinny. 

“When I’m grown up, I will buy myself a classroom, but just so that I can play in it.” Goscinny invented a child’s language that appealed to children and made their parents smile. Paired with Sempé’s wonderful drawings, the stories of Little Nicholas became international bestsellers and achieved the status of classics of French literature. The small schoolboy’s success was primarily based on the amazing closeness of a magical duo: Goscinny and Sempé. The two young authors created a whole universe. “Goscinny turned up with a text in which a child, Nicolas, talked about his life with his friends, who all had strange names - Rufus, Alceste, Maixent, Agnan, Clotaire - while the assistant principal was called Bouillon (Broth). We were on the way: René had hit on the right formula”, said Sempé. Little Nicolas’ first adventure was published on 29 March 1959 in Sud Ouest Dimanche. The response from the newspaper’s readership was enthusiastic. For seven years, Goscinny and Sempé brought alive Nicolas every single week, creating 222 stories in the process. They brought alive their own childhood memories through Nicolas and his friends. “Although I was never a Gaul or a cowboy, I was a child, as was Sempé, of course. The stories were inspired by his memories and my own memories, feelings rather than actual memories, such as the smell of pain au chocolat at the end of the school day, the atmosphere at playtime, all the bustle of childhood that Sempé really and truly captured”, said Goscinny. 

“When I’m grown up, I will buy myself a classroom, but just so that I can play in it.” Goscinny invented a child’s language that appealed to children and made their parents smile. Paired with Sempé’s wonderful drawings, the stories of Little Nicholas became international bestsellers and achieved the status of classics of French literature. The small schoolboy’s success was primarily based on the amazing closeness of a magical duo: Goscinny and Sempé. The two young authors created a whole universe. “Goscinny turned up with a text in which a child, Nicolas, talked about his life with his friends, who all had strange names - Rufus, Alceste, Maixent, Agnan, Clotaire - while the assistant principal was called Bouillon (Broth). We were on the way: René had hit on the right formula”, said Sempé. Little Nicolas’ first adventure was published on 29 March 1959 in Sud Ouest Dimanche. The response from the newspaper’s readership was enthusiastic. For seven years, Goscinny and Sempé brought alive Nicolas every single week, creating 222 stories in the process. They brought alive their own childhood memories through Nicolas and his friends. “Although I was never a Gaul or a cowboy, I was a child, as was Sempé, of course. The stories were inspired by his memories and my own memories, feelings rather than actual memories, such as the smell of pain au chocolat at the end of the school day, the atmosphere at playtime, all the bustle of childhood that Sempé really and truly captured”, said Goscinny. 

For several years now, Soledad has been collaborating with Image Republic, creating a very colourful collection of feminine illustrations.

“When I’m grown up, I will buy myself a classroom, but just so that I can play in it.” Goscinny invented a child’s language that appealed to children and made their parents smile. Paired with Sempé’s wonderful drawings, the stories of Little Nicholas became international bestsellers and achieved the status of classics of French literature. The small schoolboy’s success was primarily based on the amazing closeness of a magical duo: Goscinny and Sempé. The two young authors created a whole universe. “Goscinny turned up with a text in which a child, Nicolas, talked about his life with his friends, who all had strange names - Rufus, Alceste, Maixent, Agnan, Clotaire - while the assistant principal was called Bouillon (Broth). We were on the way: René had hit on the right formula”, said Sempé. Little Nicolas’ first adventure was published on 29 March 1959 in Sud Ouest Dimanche. The response from the newspaper’s readership was enthusiastic. For seven years, Goscinny and Sempé brought alive Nicolas every single week, creating 222 stories in the process. They brought alive their own childhood memories through Nicolas and his friends. “Although I was never a Gaul or a cowboy, I was a child, as was Sempé, of course. The stories were inspired by his memories and my own memories, feelings rather than actual memories, such as the smell of pain au chocolat at the end of the school day, the atmosphere at playtime, all the bustle of childhood that Sempé really and truly captured”, said Goscinny.