Le Sourire

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Le Sourire
Gauguin Le Sourire Recueil.jpg
Cover of Le Sourire dedicated to George-Daniel de Monfreid, c.1901. From the collections of the Kon-Tiki Museum
Founder Paul Gauguin
First issueAugust 1899;126 years ago (1899-08)
Final issue
Number
April 1900;125 years ago (1900-04)
9
Country French Third Republic

Le Sourire was a French monthly magazine that was published between August 1899 and April 1900. [1]

Contents

Original Version

Le Sourire was a monthly periodical published by the French artist Paul Gauguin. [2] The editions contained satirical copy, illustrated by his pen and screen drawings, with one of his woodcuts used for the header. It was in part inspired by the more successful Parisian periodical Le Rire , illustrated by artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec. [3]

A total of nine editions were printed during August 1899 and April 1900, between his stays in Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands. It is not known how many copies of each edition were printed, probably not more than 30. Due to a limited budget, and the fact that they were hand printed, the quality of the reproductions was often poor and blotchy, he used cheap glue to bind the leaves to the paper. [4] However, they are admired by art critics and historians today.

Second Version

A second version of Le Sourire began on 25 August 1899 under the operation of Maurice Mery, who had experience with art review journals and newspapers. This weekly version came out on Saturdays under the editorship of Alphonse Allais. Le Sourire suspended publishing with the advent of the First World War, but resumed on 14 April 1917 with Rudolphe Bringer at the helm.

Le Sourire
23 March 1901
La veuve
: - Eh bien, ma pauvre enfant...
: - Ah ! chere amie, il n'etait assure que pour 20.000 francs! Le Sourire 23 03 1901.png
Le Sourire 23 March 1901

La veuve

: - Eh bien, ma pauvre enfant...

: - Ah ! chère amie, il n'était assuré que pour 20.000 francs!

The revived magazine was known as Le Sourire de France and had more risqué content, frequently featuring covers with pin-up style art and jokes. In 1922 Paul Briquet became the director and held the position until 1930. The magazine itself continued with weekly publication until 30 September 1939, when it became bi-weekly. However, this ended in May 1940 with the fall of France. [5]




References

  1. "Le Sourire (Paris. 1899) - 7 Years available - Gallica". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
  2. "Paul Gauguin b. 1848, Paris; d. 1903, Atuona, Marquesas Islands". guggenheim.org. Retrieved 3 October 2015
  3. "Tricoter des sourires ! – Lycée Erea Toulouse-Lautrec de Vaucresson" (in French). Retrieved 2021-05-25.
  4. Miller, 178
  5. "Le Sourire (magazine)". 14 May 2019 via Wikipedia.

Sources