Benjamin Rabier

Benjamin Rabier is a Illustrateur French born in 1864 with the Roche-sur-Yon (the Vendée), and died in 1939 with Faverolles (Indre). It was in particular made famous for the drawing of " the cow which laughs ".

Brief biography

Benjamin Rabier starts to work in 1890 as accountant with the Cheap in Paris, then with the Halles. Thanks to the support of Caran d' Ache which it met the previous year, several French reviews start to publish its drawings ( the Amusing Chronicle , Gil Blas Illustré ), but also in Great Britain and in the United States where it has more success. It is finally published regularly in the Laughter and Shovel-Mixes , which will enable him to leave its first albums, in particular Tintin Lutin , title which Hergé took as a starting point a few years later.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Benjamin Rabier asserts itself like an author on success, as its publications in to them the Plate with Butter or testifies the Black Cat . He also launches out in the edition for children, by publishing a newspaper, comic and Natural Histoire of the Animals (1907-1908). In spite of these successes, it will keep until 1910 its work with the Markets.

Benjamin Rabier writes also many plays (as My widow has fun in collaboration with Jose de Bérys); he launches out, as from 1916, in the Cartoon and deals with publicity.

Its work

The universe of Benjamin Rabier is strewn with animals. In 1906, Benjamin Rabier publishes at Jules Tallandier an entirely illustrated edition of the Fables of the Fountain. He illustrated also the Novel of Fox and the Natural history of Buffon. In 1921, Leon Bel took as a starting point a drawing of Benjamin Rabier like logo of his mark " The cow which rit". This cow decorated the trucks with transport of fresh meat during the First World War and was called the " Wachkyrie". But its character of cartoon the most famous Gédéon remainder the duck, whose stories were published between 1923 and 1939 in 16 albums. It also drew celebrates it whale of saline midi.à

For the cineclub Pathé Baby, of 1922 to 1925 it created many cartoons having for unquestionable subjects of its characters of illustrator like Gédéon.

An admiror: Hergé. “I was immediately conquered. Because these drawings were very simple. Very simple, fresh, robust merry, and of a perfect legibility. In some quite constructed features all was known as: the decoration was indicated, the actors in place; the comedy could start. ” The voyage that Rabier made in the motor bike to Moscow will inspire Hergé which will take it as model of Tintin. Rabier moreover had already created a few years before a hero named Tintin Lutin and equipped in pants with golfor. Another Vendean, Robert Sex, would have also been took as model by Hergé.

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