Charles Tronsens (Carlo Gripp) (French, 1826-1900)
Charles Tronsens (Carlo Gripp) (French, 1826-1900)
Charles Tronsens (Carlo Gripp)
French, 1826-1900
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Pierre-Charles Tronsens - pseudonyms "Sathaniel" & "Carlo Gripp", was a French cartoonist and caricaturist. Born in Tarbes, Hautes-Pyrenées, in the Occitaine region of south western France, he began his working life as a lawyers clerk. Passionate about drawing, Tronsens founded Le Carillonneur (The Bell Ringer) in April 1848, a Tarbes satirical weekly for which he wrote and illustrated under the pseudonym "Sathaniel".
A few months later, he was noticed by Charles Philipon, who brought him to Paris to collaborate on Le Journal pour rire, in association with Edmond Morin and alongside other young artists such as Bertall, Henri de Montaut and Gustave Doré. In 1857, Tronsens stopped signing his drawings with his real name and began to use the pseudonym "Carlo Gripp". Chosen in allusion to the Gripp waterfall, located about thirty kilometers south of Tarbes, this pen name echoes its Haut-Pyrenean origins while paying tribute to the famous designer Gavarni, who had found his name from another artist after a visit to the Gavarnie circus, also located in the Hautes-Pyrénées.
Drawing was not, however, the main professional activity of Tronsens. He became a bank employee in the Lyon-Allemand house in Paris, after having worked for a few years as a clerk at the Tarbes court. On October 29, 1864, Charles Tronsens married Émilie-Délia Morland (1841-1903). One of the wedding witnesses was the photographer Pierre Durat, with whom Tronsens produced in 1867 a series of “Photo-biographies” of celebrities. His bride was the sister of young Valère Morland , who would soon follow in her brother-in-law's footsteps in the Parisian illustrated satirical press.
At the end of 1865-beginning of 1866, Carlo Gripp and Valère Morland were among the first cartoonists of The Moon , shortly before André Gill became the emblematic artist of the newspaper. On September 8, 1867, Carlo Gripp succeeded Charles-Lucien Huard as director of L'Image , an illustrated weekly which competed with Journal Amusing. Re-titled Le Paris-Comique from January 1869 and supported by a cheap edition called Le Petit Journal comique, the newspaper ceased to appear on September 10, 1870 before merging the following year with L'Esprit follet. After 1871, Tronsens devoted himself fully to his banking activities and stopped publishing drawings with a few rare exceptions. Tronsens died in Paris in 1900.