tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23438334.post7878726809454343856..comments2024-03-27T11:18:53.456-07:00Comments on Temple of the Seven Golden Camels: Art Appreciation: Sempémark kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11953166248647413142noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23438334.post-57017778317279533152008-01-08T20:08:00.000-08:002008-01-08T20:08:00.000-08:00Thanks for commenting everyone!Johnh - I haven't s...Thanks for commenting everyone!<BR/><BR/>Johnh - I haven't seen those, I will seek them out.<BR/><BR/>steve - yes, I saw you post some of his stuff before, right? He's great.<BR/><BR/>eldreé - yes, the book is printed on poor paper. It didn't scan very well.<BR/><BR/>matt j -thanks for the kind words, glad you liked it and thanks for the link!<BR/><BR/>notanymike - hey, plenty of us Americans like Sempé and surely not ALL of us are afflicted with either malady.<BR/><BR/>brian - I don't have any idea what you're saying, I don't see that at all.<BR/>There's something inexplicably bizarre about this drawing and it's effect on people.<BR/>Curious.mark kennedyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11953166248647413142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23438334.post-43211382163455298182008-01-07T23:58:00.000-08:002008-01-07T23:58:00.000-08:00I'm a little confused why nobody has mentioned the...I'm a little confused why nobody has mentioned the goings on at the right corner of the house. I believe that while this party for the fat rich guy is going on there is someone being carried away around the back corner of the house, apparently drunk in my estimation. <BR/>What I see is commentary on the callousness of the incredibly rich. That anyone should be praised for one lonely head of lettuce that will probably be left to go to seed uneaten except by maybe a servant because the fat rich guy knows the dog pees out there and therefore considers his own lettuce dirty is a commentary of the highest sort, otherwise known as comedy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23438334.post-85963833287336133142008-01-06T15:55:00.000-08:002008-01-06T15:55:00.000-08:00To Valot:To you it may be "superior art;" but to u...To Valot:<BR/><BR/>To you it may be "superior art;" but to us Americans it appeals to people only with ADD and/or Asperger's Syndrome...but there's nothing wrong with that (for me least...I have both and am part French!)notanymikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06942478152015871397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23438334.post-42416157067330370092008-01-05T09:10:00.000-08:002008-01-05T09:10:00.000-08:00No, no-solid post Mark & your analysis is enlighte...No, no-solid post Mark & your analysis is enlightening. The image you posted enlarges sufficiently but still on my laptop the lettuce IS hard to read but in a large format book I'm sure this would be no problem.<BR/> More great Sempé examples here:<BR/><BR/>www.pbase.com/csw62/sempeMatt Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06691360081537045523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23438334.post-56431473795546405572008-01-03T07:27:00.000-08:002008-01-03T07:27:00.000-08:00Great choice in Sempé, Mark! I think the picture i...Great choice in Sempé, Mark! I think the picture is just lacking enough resolution to properly see the lettuce and also some of the smiling mouths of the people.<BR/><BR/>Sempé has made some big-format books (like A3 sized) filled with details that center around a funny detail somewhere. These drawings just don't work well on our 90dpi computer monitors, imho.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I'd be happy to see more of him, maybe some stuff that doesn't need those huge resolutions?<BR/><BR/>By the way, Sempé drew several cartoons for the New Yorker himself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23438334.post-56523052520127892662008-01-02T14:43:00.000-08:002008-01-02T14:43:00.000-08:00SEMPE IS THE BEST!SEMPE IS THE BEST!samacleodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07735331967593059455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23438334.post-40862801028295212472007-12-28T09:09:00.000-08:002007-12-28T09:09:00.000-08:00Ah, Sempe! I was given the first of the Nicholas ...Ah, Sempe! I was given the first of the Nicholas books, which he illustrated. They're really quite charming.Rodneyliveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03476187929555342435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23438334.post-88674249735619211482007-12-27T10:27:00.000-08:002007-12-27T10:27:00.000-08:00I have to say I am totally perplexed by the respon...I have to say I am totally perplexed by the response to this drawing, but I'm rarely able to predict what people's reactions will be to posts. It's worth pointing out that any time I post drawings by Quentin Blake or other artists who draw in a "minimalist" style, I always find that very few people really like that kind of drawing. I don't think many people understand how difficult it is to "take away" everything that a drawing doesn't need and reduce it to it's "essence".<BR/> In any case, I would say that it's not really important to even know what kind of lettuce - or plant - he's even growing. The garden is drawn very clearly as a little "farm" with little rows and everything. His tools tell you that he's been gardening and his attitude should tell you what's going on. <BR/> I don't even find that Sempe's stuff is even that much of a riddle. I think that anyone familiar with the cartoons of "The New Yorker" would find that Sempe's work is interchangeable with much of the work found there. I guess it might take a little extra work to decipher an idea sometimes, but isn't that the best kind of art anyway, the kind that involves you and draws you in? I didn't think that was a distinctly American trait, to not want to work for your entertainment, but maybe it is. Who is reading the New Yorker, then, I wonder? Canadians?<BR/>In any case it's too bad nobody really enjoyed the post, I suppose maybe nobody took the time to read all that text!mark kennedyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11953166248647413142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23438334.post-68442153055073811862007-12-23T04:25:00.000-08:002007-12-23T04:25:00.000-08:00i totally agree but..!This drawing has...a very sh...i totally agree but..!<BR/>This drawing has...a very sharp sense of humor...but...something...is wrorg with composition here...Jazzyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16542503942146191926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23438334.post-82967216638742259032007-12-23T03:53:00.000-08:002007-12-23T03:53:00.000-08:00Sempé is French, and drawing for a French audience...Sempé is French, and drawing for a French audience. The French would have no trouble recognizing it as a classic head of butter lettuce, since we have stayed close to the land and attach a lot of importance to our fresh foods, and we don't much like "romaine", the least flavorful of all salads.<BR/><BR/>More to the point, Sempé's drawings always have an element of the riddle to them. They present large complex scenes in which a little detail holds the key. That's part of the fun: having to figure out the key to the joke. That's also a very french thing: We don't like our entertainment to be completely pre-chewed, preferring instead to have to work at it a little. America is culturally different in that respect, as most hollywood productions, for instance, take great pains to explain and justify everything, leave no loose ends, and americanize anything that might be unfamiliar.<BR/><BR/>And if you've detected snootiness in my comments, it's because being convinced that our cultural ways are superior is also a basic tenet of French culture! Sorry about that, I can't help it. It's the way I was raised.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23438334.post-63411123967700498112007-12-23T01:31:00.000-08:002007-12-23T01:31:00.000-08:00Sempé is an amazing artist...but i think that ther...Sempé is an amazing artist...but i think that there is something wrong with this image...!Maybe...it works..better on a magazine!Jazzyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16542503942146191926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23438334.post-83095205041564113852007-12-22T18:16:00.000-08:002007-12-22T18:16:00.000-08:00me neither, but because I don't understand that mu...me neither, but because I don't understand that much about humans...I could read the drawing very well...notanymikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06942478152015871397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23438334.post-59076124653952668702007-12-22T14:49:00.000-08:002007-12-22T14:49:00.000-08:00I dunno... He grew a head of lettuce in his back y...I dunno... He grew a head of lettuce in his back yard? That's what that squiggle is? I didn't know that, even after examining the full scan, until I read your comment, but it's as good a theory as any.<BR/><BR/>Same with the wheelbarrow. The way he's got that false connection between the handle and a leg makes it unclear as to what that object even is.<BR/><BR/><BR/>For all the artist's elegance of design, I'd have to say he failed in the primary mission of communicating clearly. The gag didn't get put across well. To me anyway.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Funny idea though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com