Canada Post’s week of honoring editorial cartoonists starts with Serge Chapleau.
From doodling in the margins of his schoolbooks to drawing the biggest local and international personalities, Serge Chapleau has gone from pens to touchscreens in his half-century-long career. Known as Quebec’s most famous press cartoonist, he nonetheless frowns when asked about what that implies.
“I don’t think ?cartoonist’ is a job title. In fact, there’s no such thing as a cartoonist. It’s not a job, it’s the result of going off course!”
Since he began publishing his work in Perspectives magazine in 1972, Chapleau has immortalized in pencil over 400 artists – his specialty. After many notable collaborations, including with Le Devoir, L’actualité and 7 jours, Chapleau made the jump to daily news in 1996 by becoming the editorial cartoonist of La Presse. He still works there and remains one of its undisputed pillars.
Over the years, his more than 7,000 cartoons have made people laugh and some of his victims shudder, among them many politicians.
Postes Canada profiles Serge here,
and includes a two minute video of the cartoonist who thanks his gag writers – the politicians.
“We love you” “Not tonight, I have a headache!”
His cartoon selected for the stamp expresses the bitter taste left with many Quebecers from the large gathering in Montréal three days before the 1995 referendum on Quebec sovereignty. On October 27, 1995, some 150,000 Canadians from across the country gathered in the city to proclaim their love for “La Belle Province,” an event sovereignists strongly criticized.
Elsewhere Guy, at Bado’s Blog, gives us Serge’s resume.