Label
Exode des paysans devant l'ennemi, 1940
Joseph Pinchon (1871-1953)
Paris, France
Oil on board
Gift of State of Vermont, 1964.63.182
Joseph Pinchon was born in Amiens, France, the second of eight children. He studied in Paris, and began working as an illustrator for children's magazines. In 1905, he created the character Becassine, and became one of the earliest and best artists developing a new style of illustration that would be called, in French, "bandes dessinees" (In America, we would call them comics, but their cultural role in France is very different). He continued to work as a prolific illustrator and artist for the rest of his life, with occasional forays into different art forms. In addition to the oil painting you see here, Pinchon also served briefly as the costume director for the Opera Garnier in Paris.