-
Ski resort in French Alps to close due to lack of snow and funding cuts
Local officials have announced the closure of the Alpe du Grand Serre station in Isère, halting plans to keep it open year-round
-
Good news for Occitanie residents as ‘in demand’ flight route to run all year
Domestic flight will connect Perpignan and Lille twice per week
-
French weekend weather forecast June 28 - 29: ‘historic’ heatwave begins in south
Temperatures close to 40C are expected as 13 departments set for heightened heatwave alerts on Saturday
Artwork by Petit Nicolas illustrator Sempé set for first-ever auction
The artist’s work has appeared on hundreds of covers of The New Yorker magazine, as well as Paris Match and Le Figaro

Some 54 pieces of original art by the French cartoonist Jean-Jacques Sempé will be on sale at an auction for the first time tomorrow (June 19).
The artist, known most commonly as Sempé, is famous for illustrating the series of French children’s books Le Petit Nicolas. His work has also featured on over 100 covers of The New Yorker magazine, in Paris Match, Le Figaro, and Le Nouvel Observateur.
The artworks on sale span Sempé’s long career, from the 1960s until today. The collection documents everyday scenes from the artist’s perspective, including depictions of Parisian life, the Jardin du Luxembourg, a bike ride, an outing to the opera or a night bus crossing a Parisian bridge.
Prices are listed as ranging from €8,000 to €50,000.
Eric Leroy, an art expert and organiser of the sale at Paris-based auction house Artcurial, said the auction was an occasion not to be missed.
“Appearing on the art market for the first time will be an exceptional ensemble of drawings by this poetic genius, full of humour,” he said.
Sempé was born in Bordeaux in 1932 and published his first drawings in the local and then national press in the 1950s. His first collection of cartoons was published in 1962.
He began collaborating with René Goscinny, the creator of the Asterix comic book series, at the end of the 1950s to create the popular series of children’s books Le Petit Nicolas, which depict an idealised version of childhood in 1950s France.
The auction will take place on Saturday (June 19) from 14:30 at Artcurial auction house in Paris.
You can follow the event live on Artcurial’s website here, where you can also make bids for the artworks.



