Sem (artist)

Georges Goursat (1863–1934), known as Sem, was a French caricaturist famous during the Belle Époque.

Georges Goursat
Born(1863-11-23)23 November 1863[1]
Périgueux
Died(1934-11-26)26 November 1934[2]
Paris
NationalityFrench
Other namesSem
Occupationartist
Known forcaricatures, posters

Life and works

Youth (1863–1900)
Self portrait (1888).
Goursat's first poster (1891).
First caricatures in Le Rire (1897).
Caricature of various individuals playing roulette by Sem, 1920

Georges Goursat was born and raised in an upper-middle-class family from Périgueux.[3] The wealth inherited from his father at the age of 21[4] allowed him to sustain a gilded youth.[5]

In 1888 he self published in Périgueux his first three albums of caricatures, signing some as "SEM"[6] (Figure, left), allegedly as a tribute[7] to Amédée de Noé who signed his caricatures for Le Monde illustré as "Cham".[8]

From 1890 to 1898, he settled for a few years in Bordeaux.[9] During this period, he published more albums and his first press caricatures in La Petite Gironde[10] and discovered the work of Leonetto Cappiello.[11] His style matured, becoming both simpler and more precise.[12]

During the same period, he made trips to Paris. In 1891, he designed two posters printed in the workshop of Jules Chéret (Figure, right) for the singer Paulus.[11] He published his first caricatures of artists in L'Illustration (Albert Brasseur) and Le Rire (Paulus, Polin and Yvette Guilbert[i. 1]).[11]

From 1898 to 1900, he lived in Marseille.[13][i. 2] During this stay, he met Jean Lorrain who convinced him to live in Paris.[14]

Caricature women on a boat being sailed by a sailor by Sem, 1925

Belle Époque (1900–1914)

Goursat arrived in Paris in March 1900, at the time of the opening of the Universal Exposition.[15]

He picked horse races[i. 3] as his way of entry in high society.[15] In June, three months after his arrival, he self-published a new album, Le Turf, with caricatures of many prominent Parisian socialites (Marquess Boni de Castellane, Prince Trubetskoy, Count Clermont-Tonnerre, Baron Alphonse and Gustave de Rothschild, Polaire).[15] The success of this album made him famous overnight.[16] In October of the same year, he published another album, Paris-Trouville, with the same success. Nine others followed until 1913.[17]

In 1904, Goursat received the Légion d'honneur.[18] In 1909, he exhibited with the painter Auguste Roubille, first in Paris, then in Monte Carlo and London. a diorama, composed of hundreds of wooden figurines "of all the merely Paris celebrities".[19]

World War I (1914–1918)

Aged over 50 at the start of World War I, Goursat was not drafted.[20] He nevertheless involved himself as a war correspondent for Le Journal.[20] Some of his rather "chauvinistic" articles had an "enormous impact".[21] Ten were published in 1917 in Un pékin sur le front. Two others were incorporated in 1923 in another book, La Ronde de Nuit.[22] In 1916 and 1918 Goursat published two albums of Croquis de Guerre (War sketches). Their style is completely different from his previous work.[21] He also designed posters for war bonds.[23]

Années Folles (1918–1934)

After the war, Goursat came back to the kind of caricatures that made him famous. In 1919, he published Le Grand Monde à l'envers (High Society upside down).[24] Around 1923, he published 3 albums under the general title of Le Nouveau Monde (The New World).[25] In 1923, he was made an officer of the Légion d'honneur.[26] In 1929, he was severely impoverished by the economic crisis.[27] After a heart attack in 1933,[28] he died in 1934.[2]

Personalities caricatured by Goursat
Name, surnameOccupationImage
Alexandrovich, Vladimir Socialite
Annunzio, Gabriele d' Writer
Astruc, Gabriel Impresario
Balthy, Louise Actress
Bennett, Gordon Publisher
Blanc, Edmond Politician
Blériot, Louis Aviator
Boldini, Giovanni Painter
Borbon, Alfonso de King
Brasseur, Albert Actor
Brieux, Eugène Writer
Capel, Arthur "Boy" Polo player
Cappiello, Leonetto Poster artist
Capus, Alfred Writer
Castellane, Boni de Socialite
Chanel, Coco Designer
Colette, Sidonie-Gabrielle Writer
Croisset, Francis de Dramatist
Deval, Marguerite Singer
Donnay, Maurice Dramatist
Doumer, Paul President
Ephrussi, Maurice Financier
Feydeau, Georges Writer
Forain, Jean-Louis Painter
Fursy, Henri Variety singer
Gauthier-Villars, Henry Writer
Guitry, Lucien Actor
Guitry, Sacha Actor
Guyon, Charles-Alexandre Actor
Hahn, Reynaldo Composer
Adien Hébrard Journalist
Helleu, Paul Painter
Hervieu, Paul Dramatist
Humbert, Charles Senator
Lambert, Charles de Aviator
Lafitte, Pierre Publisher
Latham, Hubert Aviator
Lavallière, Ève Actress
Letellier, Henri Publisher
Lorrain, Jean Writer
Massenet, Jules Composer
Mendès, Catulle Writer
Mérode, Cléo de Dancer
Montesquiou, Robert de Poet
Morand, Paul Writer
Noailles, Anna de Writer
Noailles, Emmanuel de Diplomat
Pahlavi, Reza Shah
Paquin, Jeanne Designer
Pierpont Morgan, John Financier
Poiré, Emmanuel (Caran d'Ache) Cartoonist
Polaire Actress
Porto-Riche, Georges de Writer
Pougy, Liane de Dancer
Puccini, Giacomo Composer
Rostand, Edmond Dramatist
Rostand, Maurice Writer
Rougier, Henri Aviator
Santos-Dumont, Alberto Aviator
Sardou, Victorien Dramatist
Vionnet, Madeleine Designer
Wall, Berry Socialite

References
  1. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 13)
  2. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 171)
  3. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 14)
  4. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 18)
  5. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 19)
  6. (Bonnelle, Meneret, pp. 21–23)
  7. Dixmier, Michel (2007). Quand le crayon attaque: images satiriques et opinion publique en France, 1814–1918 (in French). Autrement. p. 167. ISBN 978-2-7467-1052-8.
  8. Guerrand, Roger-Henri. "SEM Georges Goursat dit (1863–1934)" (in French). Encyclopaedia Universalis. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  9. (Bonnelle, Meneret, pp. 25–33)
  10. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 25)
  11. (Bonnelle, Meneret, pp. 30–33)
  12. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 26)
  13. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 35)
  14. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 41)
  15. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 45)
  16. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 46)
  17. "La Belle Époque". Association Sem. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  18. "Bloc-notes parisien". Le Gaulois (in French). 15 August 1904.
  19. Pollard, Percival (1911). Vagabond Journeys: The Human Comedy at Home and Abroad. p. 42.
  20. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 100)
  21. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 112)
  22. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 102)
  23. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 116)
  24. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 121)
  25. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 123)
  26. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 130)
  27. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 136)
  28. (Bonnelle, Meneret, p. 170)

Images
  1. Goursat, Georges. "Les demi-vieilles" (in French). Joconde. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  2. Goursat, Georges. "Le port de Marseille" (in French). Réunion des Musées Nationaux. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  3. Flameng, François; Vizzavona, François Antoine (1913). "Portrait de M. Sem, souvenir d'Ascot" (in French). Réunion des Musées Nationaux.

Bibliography
  • Bonnelle, Madeleine; Meneret, Marie-José (1979). SEM (in French). Périgueux: Pierre Fanlac. ISBN 2-86577-144-X.
  • Dini, Francesca (2006). Boldini, Helleu, Sem : protagonisti e miti della Belle Epoque (in Italian). Skira.
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