DOI Heft:
No. 59 (February, 1898)
DOI Artikel:Mourey, Gabriel: A French caricaturist: Caran d'Ache
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18391#0048
Caran D'Ache
STUDY
that direction his great gifts are seen to highest
perfection.
Some fifteen years ago Caran d'Ache—who was
then simply known by his real name, Emmanuel
Poire, and had not yet assumed the now famous
pseudonym, which it seems, in Russian, signifies
pencil—was doing his term of military service.
Passionately fond of drawing, he was employed by
the Ministry of War in the department for the
study of foreign armies. He drew uniforms of
every kind, and thus had access to all that was
necessary to enable him thoroughly to grasp in
their minutest details the dress, the appearance,
the everyday life of the soldier. He started by
caricaturing the uniforms of the German army,
deriving his inspiration from the military carica-
turists of (xermany herself, whose influence may be
traced in the drawings from his pen, published
about that time in Tout-Paris, La Vie Moderne, the
Chat Noir, and elsewhere. They dealt particularly
with the Imperial era, rich in heroic feat and
glorious adventure. The splendid uniforms of the
" Grande Armee " were indeed well calculated to
attract the artist's pencil. For heroes' hearts beat
beneath those gorgeous trappings ! One has only
to read the Cahiers du Capitaine Coignet or the
Memoires de Marbot to see what prodigies of valour
these men were capable of achieving. This, then,
was the heroic period Caran d'Ache wished to
BY CARAN D'ACHE
depict in his U Epopee, a series of ombres chinoises,
which for many months drew " All Paris " to the
little theatre at the "Chat Noir." His success was
enormous. Nothing could have been more strik-
ing, nothing more real, nothing more thoroughly
alive than these scenes of military life. In simple
silhouette form the artist succeeded so admirably
in bringing out the characteristics of each person-
age, showed so much variety of expression and
movement in his groups, that one could not resist
a feeling of genuine enthusiasm as this remarkable
and original spectacle passed before the eyes.
Fully equipped in every detail, from his previous
studies, perfect master of every particular of harness,
and uniform and arms, Caran d'Ache made this
miniature revival of the Napoleonic triumph a
truly wonderful creation. His hitherto unpublished
original sketches, several of which are reproduced
here, give some idea of what this work was like.
They show, accurately enough, the genius of Caran
d'Ache as a military draughtsman; while the
other studies now published—selected from some
hundreds in his portfolios—will serve to complete
the reader's acquaintance with the artist's genius in
this direction.
One of Caran d'Ache's strongest qualities is his
profound knowledge of the horse. He knows its
anatomy from A to X, and I can think of no artist
of to-day who can show its movements better than
35
STUDY
that direction his great gifts are seen to highest
perfection.
Some fifteen years ago Caran d'Ache—who was
then simply known by his real name, Emmanuel
Poire, and had not yet assumed the now famous
pseudonym, which it seems, in Russian, signifies
pencil—was doing his term of military service.
Passionately fond of drawing, he was employed by
the Ministry of War in the department for the
study of foreign armies. He drew uniforms of
every kind, and thus had access to all that was
necessary to enable him thoroughly to grasp in
their minutest details the dress, the appearance,
the everyday life of the soldier. He started by
caricaturing the uniforms of the German army,
deriving his inspiration from the military carica-
turists of (xermany herself, whose influence may be
traced in the drawings from his pen, published
about that time in Tout-Paris, La Vie Moderne, the
Chat Noir, and elsewhere. They dealt particularly
with the Imperial era, rich in heroic feat and
glorious adventure. The splendid uniforms of the
" Grande Armee " were indeed well calculated to
attract the artist's pencil. For heroes' hearts beat
beneath those gorgeous trappings ! One has only
to read the Cahiers du Capitaine Coignet or the
Memoires de Marbot to see what prodigies of valour
these men were capable of achieving. This, then,
was the heroic period Caran d'Ache wished to
BY CARAN D'ACHE
depict in his U Epopee, a series of ombres chinoises,
which for many months drew " All Paris " to the
little theatre at the "Chat Noir." His success was
enormous. Nothing could have been more strik-
ing, nothing more real, nothing more thoroughly
alive than these scenes of military life. In simple
silhouette form the artist succeeded so admirably
in bringing out the characteristics of each person-
age, showed so much variety of expression and
movement in his groups, that one could not resist
a feeling of genuine enthusiasm as this remarkable
and original spectacle passed before the eyes.
Fully equipped in every detail, from his previous
studies, perfect master of every particular of harness,
and uniform and arms, Caran d'Ache made this
miniature revival of the Napoleonic triumph a
truly wonderful creation. His hitherto unpublished
original sketches, several of which are reproduced
here, give some idea of what this work was like.
They show, accurately enough, the genius of Caran
d'Ache as a military draughtsman; while the
other studies now published—selected from some
hundreds in his portfolios—will serve to complete
the reader's acquaintance with the artist's genius in
this direction.
One of Caran d'Ache's strongest qualities is his
profound knowledge of the horse. He knows its
anatomy from A to X, and I can think of no artist
of to-day who can show its movements better than
35