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06/12/2013

The little girl, emblem of the Menier chocolate. 8th issue

Alfred Courmes is shown at Orsay museum, in Paris,

from Sept. 24th to Jan. 2nd, 2014, as part of the exhibition

“Masculin-Masculin”

 

(two paintings shown:  "Ex-voto à San Sébastien" and "St Sébastien at the waterlock ".)

 

 

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Some history:

The little girl, emblem of the Menier chocolate, was created by Firmin Bouisset (1859 – 1925)

photos Qualité Lu.jpg

A little schoolboy, a capeline, a beret …

A little girl, two hair plaits, a scent of chocolate …

More than a century after their creation, the little girl emblem of the Menier chocolate, and the little schoolboy of Lu have remained vivid in our imagination.

Moreover, more than a hundred years after they have been created, they have become icons of the reminders of our youth. The little schoolboy sustains even records of persistence of an advertising symbol while he still exists on biscuits of the Lu brand.

The two were brother and sister, Yvonne and Jacques. Their father Firmin Bouissou took them as models.

 

Menier_Bouisset1893.jpgTypical of his work, these two kids were followed by many others : the little girl of MAGGI, the one of Leroux chicory, the little chimney sweeper of the Job cigarette paper or the harlequin of the Poulain chocolate, to name only a few.

By the simplicity of graphism, by the evidence of the message transmitted, by the reiterated presence of the kid, Bouisset’s work shows a true change in advertising history.

Hundred times copied, hundred times amended, the little Menier girl is probably the emblem which has been most copied.

Up to the duo Jean Paul Goude –Laetitia Casta for the Galeries Lafayette Department store.(http://firminbouisset.blogspot.fr/)

 

 

As you were able to read in previous issues, Alfred Courmes had a deep admiration for the creations of artists of the advertising world. You have seen the little girl emblem of the Menier chocolate in his painting "45% de B.A"  (1961) a few weeks ago (4th issue).

But she had been reproduced in two other paintings : “Three trees in Secretan avenue” (1957) and “The Cyclops had only one eye, but it was the good one” (1960)

 

60 Le cyclope n'avait qu'un oeil .. hui196040.jpg

“ The Cyclops had only one eye, but it was the good one” ,1960, oil on canvas (114 x 146) 





images (2).jpg

This painting is inspired by a sordid event which took place in 1956.détail curé.jpg The double murder of the vicar of Uruffle in theVosges department. After making love to a girl of 19 years old, then under the majority age, she became pregnant; the father at the same time vicar, a few weeks after delivery, killed her as she refused to part from her baby, opened her belly, gave sacrament to the baby supposed to be alive and finally killed him.(see french annex) 




On the left upper part of the painting appear the following writing :

inscription curé.jpg 

   Detail of the painting “The Cyclops had only one eye, but it was the good one”

 


60 Le curé Durufe et la petite fille du chocolat M... aqu196.jpg

 

Preparatory work for “The Cyclops had only one eye, but it was the good one”, 1960, watercolour on paper (26 x 26) private ownership ©adagp


With this preparatory work, Alfred Courmes had the preliminary intention to reproduce the baby of the Blédine advertising (panel on the right)

 

1936 BLEDINE (2).jpg

Advertisement for Blédine baby food (1936)

 

 

article dagen 1982-83.jpg

 

This painting illustrated a press item written by Philippe Dagen * for an exhibition in December 1982 at the Jean Briance gallery, Guénégaud street, Paris, organized by Claudine Martin. 

* Philippe Dagen teaches Art History at Pantheon Sorbonne university (Paris 1), and writes in Le Monde newspaper and publishes books of his own.




 
 
 
 

The little girl (detail) also appears in two different preparatory works for a painting for which there were three initial works. It is titled “Three trees inSecretan avenue”. In a first version, she draws on part of a wall the naïve design of a sailor. At the forefront, next to the umbrella, one notices the basket filled with berets with red pompoms. I am searching for a coloured version.

“In another version (…) the little girl has disappeared, but the obsession remains: the umbrella is still there and the magic basket is filled, this time, with angry looking small cats”

I have unfortunately no document on this painting only quoted in the book of J.M. Campagne

(page 44). There is also a version of “Three trees inSecretan avenue” without the little girl.

(detail)

 

3 arbres.png57 Trois arbres de la rue Secrétan hui195788.jpg

Three trees in Secretan avenue”


“Three trees in Secretan avenue”1957,oil on canvas (73 x 91) private ownership. ©adagp



 

Here under is a presentation of the various baskets of the little girl of the Menier chocolate. The first one is the original design by Firmin Bouisset, the others those of Courmes in

“The Cyclops had only one eye, but it was the good one” and in “45% of B.A.”

 


détail panier firmin.PNG45 détail 1.pngpanier bis curé.jpg




 



To know more:

 

“The Cyclops had only one eye, but it was the good one” has been shown :

 

- 1960 Salon d’Automne,Paris

- 1979 Rétrospective, PaintingsMuseum, from May 16th to August 20th,Grenoble.

- 1982/1983, private exhibition, Jean Briance Gallery, from December 2nd to January 29th,Paris.

- 1984 Grand Palais, hundredth anniversary of the Salon des Indépendants, April,Paris.

- 1989 Rétrospective, Saint Roch hospital Museum, from October 231st to December 17th, Issoudun.

 

 

“The Cyclops had only one eye, but it was the good one” was subject to following publications:

 

- Jean-Marc Campagne, Alfred Courmes, Prospecteur de mirages entre ciel et chair, Photographs by Robert Doisneau, Jacqueline Hyde, Marc Vaux, publisher Eric Losfeld, 1973, page 44, 105 and 108.

- Vitalie Andriveau – Gilles Bernard, Alfred Courmes, foreword by Michel Onfray, le cherche midi publisher, 2003, page 124.

 

 « Three trees inSecretan avenue » has been shown:

 

- 1957, 13th Salon de Mai, Museum of modern art of Paris, from 4th to 30th May.

- 1979, Rétrospective, Museum of paintings, from May 16th to August 20th,Grenoble.

 

“Three trees in Secretan avenue” was subject to following publications:

 

-Jean Marc Campagne, Alfred Courmes, Prospecteur de mirages entre ciel et chair Photographs by Robert Doisneau, Jacqueline Hyde, Marc Vaux, publisher Eric Losfeld, 1973, pages 44-45.

 

- Vitalie Andriveau – Gilles Bernard, Alfred Courmes, foreword by Michel Onfray, publisher le cherche midi, 2003.

 

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