Gill, André (1840-1885)

Gill, André

CARICATURIST (FRANCE)

BORN 17 Apr 1840, Paris - DIED 1 May 1885, Charenton-le-Pont, Val-de-Marne
BIRTH NAME Gosset de Guînes, Louis Alexandre
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Père Lachaise, Rue du Repos 16 (division 95, ligne 01, K, 29)

Son of the Comte de Guînes and the seamstress Silvie-Adeline Gosset. After his military service he studied at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture in Paris. He first worked as a caricaturist for "Le Journal Amusant" in 1859, but he became famous with his work for "La Luna" (1866). Among his caricatures were Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens, Sarah Bernhardt, Jules Verne and Richard Wagners.

In 1867 emperor Napoleon III was angry about a caricature by Gill that portrayed him as Rocambole. This meant the end of "la Lune" but a new magazine "L'Éclipse" was started and he worked for it from 1868 to 1876. In 1868 he was imprisoned for a few months after he had drawn a pumpkin that was believed to represent the head of a judge. During the Commune of 1871 he was the curator of the Musée the Luxembourg for a while. In 1873 he attacked the censorship of his work by the government with "L'Enterrement de la caricature". In 1875 he painted the sign for the nightclub that is now known as Lapin Agile. Locals called the club "Le Lapin à Gill" and this evolved into Lapin Agile.

From 1876 to 1879 he was the editor in chief of La "Luna Rousse", the successor of "L'Éclipse". In 1880 he started to suffer from mental illness and in 1883 he was placed in the asylum of Charente, Val-de-Marne that had once housed the Marquis de Sade. He died there in 1885 with his friend Émile Cohl at his side. He was buried at the Père Lachaise cemetery and the bust on his grave was sculpted by Laure Coutan.

Images

The grave of André Gill at Père Lachaise, Paris.
Picture by Androom (24 Oct 2014)