'Le Chat'.
Philippe Geluck is a Belgian newspaper cartoonist and comic artist, who also enjoys fame in Wallonia and France as a radio and TV comedian. He is best known for his long-running comic strip, 'Le Chat' (1983-2013), which appeared in Le Soir for over thirty years. The newspaper strip was renowned for its verbal comedy, clever satire and absurd monologues. It became both a critical and commercial success, reaching levels of a mania even, albeit mostly in the francophone world. Geluck is additionally known for his ironic deconstructions of 19th-century illustrations and as scriptwriter of 'Les Aventures de Scott Leblanc' (2009) by Devig. By being present in so many different media, Geluck is one of the most recognizable comic artists among general audiences in Wallony.
'Le Chat'. Translation: "I believe it's a bit offensive to wolves to say: "Humans are a wolf to mankind." It seems better to say: "Humans are human to mankind." But that's a low blow to mankind." (A pun on "vache" ["cow"] and "vachement" ["vile", "abject"],)
Early life and career
Philippe Geluck was born in 1954 in Brussels as the son of another cartoonist, Didier Geluck (better known as "Diluck"), who was also active as a distributor of Eastern European films and a member of the Belgian Communist Party. Philippe's mother was a singer and actress in amateur theater, from whom he enherited the desire to entertain people on stage. His brother Jean-Christophe (1947) later became a painter and graphic artist. Among Philippe Geluck's graphic influences are Saul Steinberg, Chaval, Folon, Jean Bosc, Jean-Jacques Sempé, Siné, Roland Topor, Ronald Searle, Pierre Kroll, Pierre Soulages, Gary Larson, Bob de Moor, Pablo Picasso, César and Tomi Ungerer.
At age 14 his first illustrations appeared in Azimut, a little brochure distributed by the Renault corporation. When Geluck was 18, he and his brother scribbled cartoons in the form of a newspaper on the walls of a public lavatory. A window cleaner noticed them, felt they were hilarious and mentioned it to his friend, Bob De Groot, comic writer and chief editor of the humorous magazine L'Oeuf. Soon Geluck published in L'Oeuf as well, followed by cartoons in Clé Pour La Musique. Between 1972 and 1975 he studied at L'Institut National Supérieur des Arts du Spectacle et des Techniques de Diffusion (INSAS). After graduation he became a member of the Théâtre National de Belgique and played starring roles in their theatrical plays. In 1976 he co-founded the Théâtre Hypocrite, which had a succesful run in both Wallonia and France and performed works by cartoonists like Chaval and Copi, among others.
'Le Chat'. Translation: "I have invented this clock with two dials. The first one says what time it is. The second one tells us what hour it will be within an hour."
Le Chat
Geluck developed his signature character 'Le Chat' ("The Cat") as early as 1980, when he drew him on wedding cards he and his wife gave away after their marriage. In 1983 journalist Luc Honorez of the newspaper Le Soir asked Geluck to create a daily comic for them. On 22 March 1983, 'Le Chat' debuted in Le Soir. The main character is an obese, tuxedo-wearing grey cat, whose facial expression never changes. Drawn in a very minimalistic style, with hardly any backgrounds or other characters besides the protagonist, 'Le Chat' is a purely verbal gag comic. The cat always delivers absurd monologues about daily news events and usually looks directly at the viewer. This approach betrays Geluck's theatrical background and in many ways 'Le Chat' was indeed some kind of paper-and-ink stand-up comedy show. From 1985 on, 'Le Chat' was printed in color. Geluck's assistant Françoise Procureur hand-coloured each gag in water paint until 1990, after which Serge Dehaes digitally colorized each episode. Geluck and Dehaes also created a spin-off about Le Chat's son, 'Le Fils du Chat' (1998), intended for children.
'Le Chat' quickly caught on with readers. In October 1986 Casterman published the first of many compilation books. The comic strip remained a mainstay in Le Soir's pages for three decades. Le Chat was used to advertize the paper, effectively becoming their mascot. In 2003, to celebrate Le Chat's 20th anniversary Geluck illustrated an entire issue of Le Soir by himself. This special edition received publicity and homages by fellow artists like Siné, François Schuiten, Loustal, Goffin, Fred, Tardi and even Moebius. On 3 March 2013, after 30 years continuous publication, 'Le Chat' came to an end.
'Le Chat'. Translation: "I've written down with precision the amount of times I've written a little line on the wall and there's still a lot of work."
'Le Chat' wasn't just a popular item in Le Soir. He became a daily fixture in other French-language papers and magazines as well, such as Sud-Ouest, Ouest-France, Pour Vous, Info Matin, Siné-Hebdo, Siné-Mensuel and À Suivre. The comic strip was praised by cartoonist Siné, semiologist Pierre Fresnault-Deruelle, and novelist Frédéric Dard of the 'San Antonio' series who named Geluck "a genius". Le Chat soon reached the status of a cultural phenomenon. Le Chat could also be enjoyed in animated form during the one-minute 3D-cartoon segment 'La Minute du Chat' (2011), broadcast every week day on RTBF and France 2. His voice was provided by comedian Jean-Yves Lafesse. Le Chat was also used to advertize the Belgian chocolate brands Galler (1994-2018) and Dolfin (since 2020).
'Le Chat'. Translation: "My God! Poor being!" - "I'll warn the operational block."
Yet, despite his impressive popularity, 'Le Chat' mostly remains a French-language phenomenon. Attempts have been made to translate it into Dutch ('De Kat'), English ('The Cat'), Spanish ('El Gato'), Italian ('Il Gatto') and even Persian but nowhere else has it achieved such unanimous critical and commercial success. Even across the Belgian language border, in the Dutch-language region Flanders, where 'Le Chat' was published in De Standaard as 'De Kat', he never caught on. Together with Jef Nys' series 'Jommeke' it is perhaps the best example of the differences between both language communities in the Belgian comic industry. While 'Jommeke' is a cultural phenomenon and colossal bestseller in Flanders, it's downright obscure in Wallonia, just like the success of 'Le Chat' remains restricted to its French-language readers. The gap in appreciation became even more clear when 'The Greatest Belgian' election was held in 2005. While Geluck wasn't even nominated in the Flemish version of the contest, he ended at the 22nd spot in the Walloon version. Only two other comic artists scored higher, namely André Franquin at nr. 18 and Hergé at nr. 8. A possible explanation why 'Le Chat' didn't find success in translation might be its reliance on verbal comedy and puns.
Geluck homage to Siné, where Le Chat says that he has given Siné everything.
Other comics
While Geluck is best known for 'Le Chat', he also made other kinds of comics. Some of his cartoons published in Le Soir are reprints of old-fashioned 19th-century illustrations, to which he added ironic captions. The contrast between the deadly serious and static imagery and Geluck's witty commentary was a golden idea, which since then has been copied by many other cartoonists since. Though Geluck wasn't the first to come up with this idea: Canadian-American comedian Art Finley did it first between 1962 and 1981 with a daily gag cartoon series named 'Art's Gallery'. Geluck also collaborated on a children's game book, 'Jouez Avec Quick et Flupke' (1984), starring Hergé's Brussels brats. He is the author of his own 'Encyclopédie Universelle', a mock encyclopedia which features palimpsests and fairy-tale animals. Four volumes have been published: 'Un Peu de Tout' (1992), 'Made in Belgium' (1994), 'Le Petit Roger' (1998) and 'Made in Belgium II' (2007). In 2002, he became editor of the collection C'est Pour Offrir by the publishing house Casterman. It reprinted work by his idol Siné, whose cats were a big inspiration for his own 'Chat'. He also became a cartoonist in Siné's own magazine, Siné Hebdo (2008-2010). Since 2009, Geluck writes scripts for the comic series 'Les Aventures de Scott Leblanc - Alerte sur Fangtaufa' (2009), a spoof of classic Belgian comics like Hergé's 'Tintin' and Edgar P. Jacobs' 'Blake et Mortimer', drawn in a Clear Line style by Devig. It is published by Casterman.
Controversy
Once Geluck drew a gag about motor accidents, which was refused publishment in Le Soir, because it happened to coincide with a special issue about motor companies. The paper also didn't see the comedy in a cartoon about a Siamese twin unable to urinate because their penises were attached together. Geluck even managed to create a cartoon which was refused by none other than his infamous taboo-breaking mentor Siné. It depicted the vaginas of French politicians Martin Aubry and Ségolène Royal, in a parody of Eve Ensler's play 'The Vagina Monologues'. Another joke by Geluck outraged Flemish Christian democratic politician Eric Van Rompuy, because it suggested that the Belgian coast ought to be divided in a Flemish and a Walloon part. Le Soir brought the two men together to sort the discussion out. Yet it soon became clear that Van Rompuy simply took everything too serious. Even when Geluck hinted that he would give the Flemings the beach at high tide and the Walloons at low tide, Van Rompuy still didn't understand his opponent was joking and got even more angry. Later it turned out the politician had no idea who Geluck was and assumed he was some kind of political activist.
Cartoon featuring two athletes performing savate, but the dialogue spoofs a doctor talking to his patient and checking "where it hurts?"
Television career
Geluck is also active in other media. From 1977 on he worked for various productions of the Walloon public channel RTBF. He starred as the clown Célestin Radis in the TV show '1, 2, 3... J'ai vu!' (1977) and as host of the children's show 'Lollipop' (1979-1984), which he co-presented with motor cyclist Joël Smets and a marionet named Malvira (operated by Patrick Chaboud). The program had an absurd nature and featured Geluck in several comedic sketches, intercut with cartoons as well as clips from Roland Topor and Henri Xhonneux's cult children's show 'Téléchat'. Labor-Nathan also published children's books based on this program, with contributions by Geluck.
Geluck additionally played a presenter in a 1989 episode of the TV series 'Le Bonheur d'en Face' and contributed to programs like 'L'Espirit de Famille' (1982). His one-man show, 'Un Certain Plume' (1983) was a runaway succes and his breakthrough with the general public. Yet it still didn't hold a candle to the praise 'Un Peu De Tout' (1991) received, which won the Golden Rose of Montreux for 'Best Comedy Show'. During the 2000s the humorist was a regular guest on the talk show 'Vivement Dimanche Prochain' (1998- ) and the variety show 'On A Tout Essayé' (2000-2007). In 2009 he and Jacques Mercier presented a 90-second TV show called 'Monsieur Dictionnaire' (2009). In each episode they looked up the etymology of a French word in the dictionary and fantasized a funnier explanation than the actual origin or meaning.
'Le Chat'. Translation: "Hello? Hello? Is this room 12?" - "Eh, no, this is nr. 14."
Radio career
Geluck, the all-round entertainer, could also be enjoyed on the radio. He was a mainstay on 'Le Jeu des Dictionnaires' (1989-2011), a humorous radio show broadcast on RTBF 1, where he starred alongside artists like Laurence Bibot, Juan d'Oultremont, Frédéric Jannin, Marc Moulin, Raoul Reyers, Pierre Kroll, Jean-Jacques Jespers, Miam Monster Miam, Gilles Dal and Thomas Gunzig. Every Saturday morning between 9 and 10 o'clock the show had a special broadcast named 'La Semaine Infernale', which featured satirical sketches poking fun at earlier news events that week. One of these sketches was 'Le Docteur G.', in which Geluck pretended to be a doctor who answered questions from patients. The radio show had such good ratings that it received a TV spin-off. Geluck was a frequent guest on 'On Va S'Gêner' (1999-2014) on Europe 1 and since 2014 on 'Les Grosses Têtes' on RTL.
Cartoon by Philippe Geluck.
Film career
Geluck also acted in a few films, such as in the comedy TV films 'Le Scoop' (1977) and 'Trois Jeunes Filles Nues' (2006). He played Dragueur in Walter Bal's theatrical film 'Bobo Jacco' (1979) and the title character Jackson in the TV movie 'Jackson et le Mnémocide' (1980) by Jean-Louis Colmant (script by Jean Van Hamme). Geluck also played parts in films by the internationally praised Belgian director André Delvaux, namely the arrested man in 'Femme Entre Chien et Loup / Een Vrouw Tussen Hond en Wolf' (1979) and the father in 'Benvenuta' (1983).
Literary career
Geluck published various humorous books, such as 'Oh Toi Le Belge, Ta Gueule!' (2006), 'Geluck Se Lâche' (2009) and 'Geluck Enfonce Le Clou' (2011). In 2013 Geluck published the book "Peut-on Rire de Tout?", a funny plea for complete freedom of speech to ridicule everybody and everything. He enjoyed this liberty very much and only a few of his cartoons were ever subject of controversy.
Graphic and written contributions
Geluck illustrated Joël Smets' humor books 'Si Tous Les Souliers...' and 'Aussitôt Dits, Aussitôt Vrais' (both published by Labor, 1984). He wrote the foreword to Jean-Jacques Thibaud and Jak's 'J'ai des Pensées Pour Vois' (Grrr... Art Éditions, 2003). He additionally made a graphic contribution to Alejandro Jodorowsky's collective comic book 'Silence, On Rêve' (Casterman, 1991), the anti-racism collective comic book 'Rire Contre Le Racisme' (Jungle!, 2006). He was one of many artists to pay tribute to Ever Meulen during the 'Ever Meulen & Friends' exhibition in October 2017 in Brussels. He was additionally one of several comic artists who illustrated '1001 Visions du Sexe' (Graph Zeppelin, 2014) and short stories about autism by Albert Algoud for the album 'Les Coeurs Simples' (Casterman, 2017). Geluck also wrote a short comic for 'Spirou Defenseur Des Droits de l'Homme' (Dupuis, 2019).
Recognition
Philippe Geluck won a Grand Prix Saint-Michel in 2013 for 'Le Chat'. His comedy show 'Un Peu de Tout' won a 1991 Golden Rose at the Festival of Montreux. He was honoured as Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres on 27 October 2003. Albert II of Belgium named him Commander in the Order of the Crown on 7 August 2009. Since 2005 Geluck is also a member of the Académie Alphonse-Allais.
On 6 February 2009 the album 'Une Vie de Chat' won the cultural award Globes de Crystal ("Crystal Globe") for 'Best Comic Book'. Geluck received a special Prix Diagonale (2017) in Louvain-La-Neuve to celebrate the organisation's 10th anniversary.
Geluck's art has been exhibited in London, Paris, Milan, Kopenhagen and Dallas. In 2003 Le Chat was subject of an exhibition by L'École National Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between April and June 2020 20 giant statues of Le Chat were on display on the Avenue Champs-Elysées in Paris.
Legacy and influence
In August 1993, Le Chat received his own comic book wall in the Boulevard du Midi / Centrale Boulevard in Brussels, as part of the Brussels' Comic Book Route, followed by yet another mural on 27 September 2014, located at the Boulevard Général/ Generaal Jacques Boulevard. On 11 October 2008 Le Chat received his own statue in the Belgian village Hotton in the province Luxembourg. On 29 April 2009 a school in Herseaux, Hainaut, was named after the artist. Since 27 September 2014 a series of 24 large mural frescos depicting Le Chat can be seen revealed in the quartier de la Chasse in Etterbeek. The feature a series of humorous gags and panels, often relating to Belgium or the European Union. Some speech balloons are in French, others in Dutch. To help out tourists, translations can be read under each image. On 28 October 2021, vandals attached new speech balloons to one particular fresco, which insinuated that Le Chat "died from COVID-19, AKA the corona virus". Althought the local major announced that the fresco would be restored within the week, Geluck didn't really mind and felt it was a "respectful and powerful message from activists", which could be easily removed nevertheless.
Since 2006 Geluck and Le Chat also have an asteroid named after them. Plans have been announced to build a museum around Le Chat, which would be opened in 2023 in the Rue Royale/ Koningsstraat in Brussels, not far from the Royal Place. However, in 2021 a number of people from the art world organized a petition against the museum. They claimed the money would be better off spent on a modern art museum, rather than the creator of a minimalistic comic strip. This leaves the plans of a 'Le Chat' museum unsure for the future.
Philippe Geluck's son Antoine enjoys some fame as a singer recording under the pseudonym "Antoine Chance", a pun on the fact that "Geluck" sounds like the Dutch word "geluk", which means "luckiness" or "chance".
Philippe Geluck received admiration from veteran artist Patrice Ricord.
Self-portrait. Translation: "It's about time that I try in vain to make people understand why I don't make drawings about current events. Which is why I've decided to make a couple so I no longer have to explain why I didn't."
www.geluck.com
(en Français)