{{Short description|French caricaturist (1863–1934)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Georges Goursat | image = M. Sem.jpg | image_size = 225px | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1863|11|23|df=yes}}<ref name="Bonnelle 1979 13">{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=13}}</ref> | birth_place = Périgueux | death_date = {{Death date and age|1934|11|26|1863|11|23|df=yes}}<ref name="Bonnelle171"/> | death_place = Paris | other_names = Sem | known_for = caricatures, posters | occupation = artist }} '''Georges Goursat''' ({{Birth date|1863|11|23|df=yes}}<ref name="Bonnelle 1979 13">{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=13}}</ref> – {{Death date|1934|11|26|df=yes}}<ref name="Bonnelle171" />), known as '''Sem''', was a French caricaturist famous during the ''Belle Époque''.
==Life and works==
===Youth (1863–1900)=== {{multiple image | align = left | image1 = Sem selfportrait 1888.jpg | width1 = 94 | caption1 = Self portrait (1888) (signed as "SEM") | image2 = Paulus by Sem.jpg | width2 = 100 | caption2 = Goursat's first poster (1891) for the singer Paulus | image3 = Sem Le Rire 1897.jpg | width3 = 142 | caption3 = First caricatures in ''Le Rire'' (1897). }} thumb|Caricature of various individuals playing roulette by Sem, 1920 Georges Goursat was born and raised in an upper-middle-class family from Périgueux.<ref>{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=14}}</ref> The wealth inherited from his father at the age of 21<ref>{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=18}}</ref> allowed him to sustain a gilded youth.<ref>{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=19}}</ref>
In 1888 he self-published his first three albums of caricatures in Périgueux, signing some as "SEM",<ref>{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|pp=21–23}}</ref> allegedly as a tribute<ref name="Dixmier2007">{{cite book|last=Dixmier|first=Michel|title=Quand le crayon attaque: images satiriques et opinion publique en France, 1814–1918|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cPTVAAAAMAAJ|year=2007|publisher=Autrement|isbn=978-2-7467-1052-8|page=167|language=French}}</ref> to Amédée de Noé who signed his caricatures for ''Le Monde illustré'' as "Cham".<ref>{{cite web|last=Guerrand|first=Roger-Henri|title=SEM Georges Goursat dit (1863–1934)|publisher=Encyclopaedia Universalis|url=http://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/sem-georges-goursat-dit-1863-1934/|accessdate=3 September 2011|language=French}}</ref>
He settled in Bordeaux from 1890 to 1898.<ref>{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|pp=25–33}}</ref> During this period, he published more albums and his first press caricatures in La Petite Gironde<ref>{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=25}}</ref> and discovered the work of Leonetto Cappiello.<ref name="Bonnelle44"/> His style matured, becoming both simpler and more precise.<ref>{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=26}}</ref>
During the same period, he made trips to Paris. In 1891, he designed two posters printed in Jules Chéret's workshop for the singer Paulus.<ref name="Bonnelle44">{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|pp=30–33}}</ref> He published his first caricatures of artists in ''L'Illustration'' (Albert Brasseur) and ''Le Rire'' (Paulus, Polin and Yvette Guilbert<ref group="i.">{{Base Joconde|02120027988|Les demi-vieilles}}</ref>).<ref name="Bonnelle44"/>
Goursat lived in Marseille from 1898 to 1900,<ref>{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=35}}</ref><ref group="i.">{{cite web|last=Goursat|first=Georges|title=Le port de Marseille|publisher=Réunion des Musées Nationaux|url=http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=5&FP=10139835&E=2K1KTSUJI3SQ8&SID=2K1KTSUJI3SQ8&New=T&Pic=1&SubE=2C6NU0XIUPOR|accessdate=4 September 2011|language=French}}</ref> where he met Jean Lorrain who convinced him to live in Paris.<ref>{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=41}}</ref> {{clear}} thumb|180px|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 Universal Exposition opening.<ref name="Bonnelle45">{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=45}}</ref>
He chose horse racing<ref group="i.">{{cite web|last1=Flameng|first1=François|last2=Vizzavona|first2=François Antoine|title=Portrait de M. Sem, souvenir d'Ascot|year=1913|publisher=Réunion des Musées Nationaux|url=http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CPicZ.aspx?E=2C6NU0SMNCZY|language=French}}</ref> as a way to enter high society.<ref name="Bonnelle45"/> In June 1900 he self-published his new album ''Le Turf'' of caricatures of many prominent Parisian socialites, including Marquess Boni de Castellane, Prince Trubetskoy, Count Clermont-Tonnerre, Baron Alphonse, Gustave de Rothschild, and Polaire.<ref name="Bonnelle45"/> The album's success made him famous overnight.<ref>{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=46}}</ref> In October 1900 he published the album ''Paris-Trouville'' with equal success. Goursat published nine other albums before 1913.<ref>{{cite web|title=La Belle Époque|publisher=Association Sem|url=http://www.sem-caricaturiste.info/belleEpoque.html|accessdate=4 September 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220040725/http://www.sem-caricaturiste.info/belleEpoque.html|archivedate=20 February 2012}}</ref>
In 1904, Goursat received the ''Légion d'honneur''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bloc-notes parisien|newspaper=Le Gaulois|date=15 August 1904|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k532599b/f1.image.r=sem.langFR|language=French}}</ref> In 1909, he exhibited with the painter Auguste Roubille, first in Paris and then in Monte Carlo and London. The exhibit included a diorama composed of hundreds of wooden figurines "of all the merely Paris celebrities".<ref>{{cite book|last=Pollard|first=Percival|title=Vagabond Journeys: The Human Comedy at Home and Abroad|page=42|year=1911|url= https://archive.org/stream/vagabondjourneys00pollrich/vagabondjourneys00pollrich_djvu.txt}}</ref>
===World War I (1914–1918)=== Goursat was not drafted in World War I as he was over 50 years old at the start of the war.<ref name="Bonnelle100">{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=100}}</ref> He nevertheless involved himself as a war correspondent for ''Le Journal''.<ref name="Bonnelle100"/> Some of his rather "chauvinistic" articles had an "enormous impact".<ref name="Bonnelle114">{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=112}}</ref> Ten articles were published in 1917 in ''Un pékin sur le front''. Two other articles were incorporated in the 1923 book ''La Ronde de Nuit''.<ref name="Bonnelle102">{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=102}}</ref> In 1916 and 1918 Goursat published two albums of ''Croquis de Guerre'' ({{Lang|en|War Sketches}}) with a completely different style than his previous work.<ref name="Bonnelle114"/> He also designed war bond posters.<ref name="Bonnelle116">{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=116}}</ref>
===Années Folles (1918–1934)=== After the war, Goursat returned to the kind of caricatures that made him famous. In 1919, he published ''Le Grand Monde à l'envers'' ({{Lang|en|High Society Upside Down}}).<ref name="Bonnelle121">{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=121}}</ref> Around 1923, he published three albums under the general title of ''Le Nouveau Monde'' ({{Translation|The New World}}).<ref name="Bonnelle123">{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=123}}</ref> In 1923, he became an officer of the ''Légion d'honneur''.<ref name="Bonnelle130">{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=130}}</ref>
In 1929, he was severely impoverished by the economic crisis.<ref name="Bonnelle136">{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=136}}</ref> After a heart attack in 1933,<ref name="Bonnelle170">{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=170}}</ref> he died in 1934.<ref name="Bonnelle171">{{harv|Bonnelle|Meneret|1979|p=171}}</ref>
==Personalities caricatured by Goursat== {|class="wikitable sortable" |- !Name, surname!!Occupation!!Image |-style="height: 70px;" |Alexandrovich, Vladimir ||Socialite |40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Annunzio, Gabriele d' ||Writer |40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Astruc, Gabriel ||Impresario |60px |-style="height: 70px;" |{{ill|Balthy, Louise|fr|Louise Balthy}} ||Actress |40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Bennett, Gordon ||Publisher |50px 100px |-style="height: 70px;" |Blanc, Edmond ||Politician |70px |-style="height: 70px;" |Blériot, Louis ||Aviator |30px |-style="height: 70px;" |Boldini, Giovanni ||Painter |85px 65px |-style="height: 70px;" |Borbon, Alfonso de ||King |40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Brasseur, Albert ||Actor |50px 35px |-style="height: 70px;" |Brieux, Eugène ||Writer |25px |-style="height: 70px;" |Capel, Arthur "Boy" |Polo player ||40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Cappiello, Leonetto ||Poster artist |50px |-style="height: 70px;" |Capus, Alfred ||Writer |80px |-style="height: 70px;" |Castellane, Boni de ||Socialite |30px 45px |-style="height: 70px;" |Chanel, Coco ||Designer |40px 40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Colette, Sidonie-Gabrielle ||Writer |80px |-style="height: 70px;" |Croisset, Francis de ||Dramatist |50px |-style="height: 70px;" |Deval, Marguerite ||Singer |60px |-style="height: 70px;" |Donnay, Maurice ||Dramatist |45px 80px |-style="height: 70px;" |Doumer, Paul ||President |40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Ephrussi, Maurice ||Financier |70px |-style="height: 70px;" |Feydeau, Georges ||Writer |80px |-style="height: 70px;" |Forain, Jean-Louis ||Painter |40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Fursy, Henri ||Variety singer |35px |-style="height: 70px;" |Gauthier-Villars, Henry ||Writer |80px |-style="height: 70px;" |Guitry, Lucien ||Actor |40px 45px 80px |-style="height: 70px;" |Guitry, Sacha ||Actor |40px |-style="height: 70px;" |{{ill|Guyon, Charles-Alexandre|fr|Charles-Alexandre Guyon}} ||Actor |60px |-style="height: 70px;" |Hahn, Reynaldo ||Composer |90px |-style="height: 70px;" |{{ill|Adrien Hébrard|fr|Adrien Hébrard (1833–1914)}} ||Journalist |40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Helleu, Paul ||Painter |65px |-style="height: 70px;" |Hervieu, Paul ||Dramatist |50px |-style="height: 70px;" |Humbert, Charles ||Senator |40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Lambert, Charles de ||Aviator |40px |-style="height: 70px;" |{{ill|Lafitte, Pierre|fr|Pierre Lafitte}} ||Publisher |100px |-style="height: 70px;" |Latham, Hubert ||Aviator |20px |-style="height: 70px;" |Lavallière, Ève ||Actress |50px 40px |-style="height: 70px;" |{{ill|Henri Letellier|fr|Henri Letellier (patron de presse)|lt=Letellier, Henri}} ||Publisher |100px |-style="height: 70px;" |Lorrain, Jean ||Writer |30px 35px 60px 45px |-style="height: 70px;" |Massenet, Jules ||Composer |45px |-style="height: 70px;" |Mendès, Catulle ||Writer |70px |-style="height: 70px;" |Mérode, Cléo de ||Dancer |100px 40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Montesquiou, Robert de ||Poet |80px 80px 30px 70px 80px |-style="height: 70px;" |Morand, Paul ||Writer |25px |-style="height: 70px;" |Noailles, Anna de ||Writer |50px 70px |-style="height: 70px;" |Noailles, Emmanuel de ||Diplomat |40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Otero, Caroline ||Dancer |40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Qajar, Ahmad ||Shah ||40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Paquin, Jeanne ||Designer |40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Pierpont Morgan, John ||Financier |50px |-style="height: 70px;" |Poiré, Emmanuel (Caran d'Ache) ||Cartoonist |40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Polaire ||Actress |25px 40px 80px |-style="height: 70px;" |Porto-Riche, Georges de ||Writer |70px |-style="height: 70px;" |Pougy, Liane de ||Dancer |60px |-style="height: 70px;" |Puccini, Giacomo ||Composer |50px |-style="height: 70px;" |Rostand, Edmond ||Dramatist |70px 40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Rostand, Maurice ||Writer |40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Rougier, Henri ||Aviator ||20px |-style="height: 70px;" |Santos-Dumont, Alberto ||Aviator |50px 40px 50px |-style="height: 70px;" |Sardou, Victorien ||Dramatist |50px |-style="height: 70px;" |Vionnet, Madeleine ||Designer |40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Vlastos, Kostia ||Banker |40px |-style="height: 70px;" |Wall, Berry ||Socialite |45px |}
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==Images== {{Commons category|Georges Goursat}} {{Reflist|group="i."}}
==Bibliography== * {{cite book|last1=Bonnelle|first1=Madeleine|last2=Meneret|first2=Marie-José|title=SEM|publisher=Pierre Fanlac|year=1979|location=Périgueux|isbn=2-86577-144-X|language=French}} * {{cite book|last=Dini|first=Francesca|title=Boldini, Helleu, Sem : protagonisti e miti della Belle Epoque.|year=2006|publisher=Skira|language=Italian}}
==External links== * [http://www.sem-caricaturiste.info/ Website dedicated to Georges Goursat] * [http://www.lillustration.com/S_a148.html Goursat in L'Illustration] * [http://loubet-allaire.ludovic.chez-alice.fr/S.html Biography of Goursat] * [https://archive.org/stream/vagabondjourneys00pollrich/vagabondjourneys00pollrich_djvu.txt Description of the diorama]
{{Authority control (arts)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sem}} Category:1863 births Category:1934 deaths Category:French caricaturists Category:French illustrators Category:French graphic designers Category:People from Périgueux Category:19th-century French painters Category:French male painters Category:20th-century French painters Category:19th-century French male artists Category:Belle Époque Category:20th-century French male artists