Cartoons by Siné.
Maurice Sinet, who used the pseudonym Siné, was a French cartoonist and caricaturist. He was born in Paris in 1928. After a training as a typographer at the École Estienne, he was so impressed by his first sight of the work of Saul Steinberg that he immediately began drawing cartoons himself. He succeeded brilliantly not only in this field, but also as a book illustrator and designer of posters, stage decors, animated cartoons and publicity films. During his studies, he also was a cabaret singer with Les Garçons de la Rue.
He spent most of his military service in prison, and began his professional career as a retoucher for pornographic magazines. He published his first cartoon in France Dimanche in 1952, and won the Black Humour Award for his cartoon collection 'Complainte sans Paroles' in 1955. Siné became especially famous for his wordplay cartoons about cats. Until 1962, he made political cartoons for L'Express, some of which were refused or caused heavy criticism. He subsequently published his anti-colonial, anti-zionist, anti-capitalist and anti-clerical worldviews in his own publication, Siné Massacre.
Book cover by Siné.
In May 1968, Siné co-founded the satirical magazine L'Enragé with Jean-Jacques Pauvert and cartoonists like Georges Wolinski, while also contributing to Action. He had his own section in Charlie Hebdo, called 'Siné Sème Sa Zone', from 1981. Since 1999, he wrote and illustrated a series of books about his life and work, titled 'Ma Vie, Mon Oeuvre, Mon Cul!' ('My Life, My Work, My Ass!'). Siné also appeared in Benoît Lamy's documentary 'Cartoon Circus' (1972), a Belgian documentary about cartoons and comics, in which he was interviewed alongside Picha, Roland Topor, Cabu, Jean-Marc Reiser, François Cavanna, Professeur Choron, Gal (Gerard Alsteens), Georges Wolinski, Willem, Joke and Jules Feiffer.
Cartoon by Siné.
Siné's anarchistic and anti-colonial cartoons have caused controversy on several occasions during his career, especially during the Algerian war. He was fired from Charlie-Hebdo in 2008, following a antisemitic cartoon on Jessica Sebaoun-Darty, the wife of Jean Sarkozy. In August of 2008 he announced his own satirical weekly, called Siné Hebdo, launched with his wife Catherine Sinet and about 15 contributors. The publication ran until April 2010, but was continued as Siné Mensuel in September 2011. Siné has additionally made many drawings for books about jazz music, as well as CD covers. Siné passed away on 5 May 2016, after undergoing lung surgery.
His work was a major influence on Pierre Dupras, Gal (Gerard Alsteens), Picha, Willem, Philippe Geluck and Nadia Khiari.
Covers for Siné Massacre and Siné Mensuel.