Jacques Carelman (born 1929,

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

– 28 March 2012,

Argenteuil Argenteuil () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Argenteuil is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise Departments of France, ...

) was a French painter, illustrator and designer.

Biography

In 1966, Jacques Carelman adapted

Raymond Queneau Raymond Queneau (; 21 February 1903 – 25 October 1976) was a French novelist, poet, critic, editor and co-founder and president of Oulipo ('' Ouvroir de littérature potentielle''), notable for his wit and cynical humour. Biography Queneau w ...

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

'' Zazie in the Metro'' in

bandes dessinées Bandes may refer to: * BANDES, The Venezuelan Economic and Social Development Bank * Susan Bandes, American lawyer * Efim Samuilovich Bandes (1866–1927), Russian-Jewish political activist, known in the United States as Louis Miller {{dis ...

. He is also the undiscovered author of one of the most famous posters of

May 1968 events in France Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, as well as the occupation of universities and factories. At the height of events, which ha ...

showing a threatening CRS brandishing a truncheon. But Carelman is best known for his ''Catalog of fantastic things'' (''Catalogue d'objets introuvables'') also known as ''Catalogue of Unfindable Objects'', made in 1969 as a parody of the catalog of the French

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing a ...

company

Manufrance Manufrance was the trade name of ''Manufacture Francaise d'Armes et Cycles de St.Etienne'' ("French Arms and Cycle Factory of St. Etienne"), a French mail order company which was situated in the manufacturing town of St. Etienne since 1888. P ...

. This work has been translated into 19 languages (including

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

). Among these imaginary objects are, for instance, a "Kangaroo gun" whose "barrel is extensively studied ... to give the bullet a sinusoidal trajectory which follows the animal in its leaps", or a disposable "Plaster anvil ... (sold by the dozen) to be discarded after use, allowing you to make substantial savings." The most famous item in this catalog was Carelman's "Coffeepot for Masochists", a coffeepot with a backwards facing spout that would scald the user. This design became a symbol for the critique of everyday things and was featured on the cover of Don Norman's book on the topic,

The Design of Everyday Things ''The Design of Everyday Things'' is a best-selling book by cognitive scientist and usability engineer Donald Norman about how design serves as the communication between object and user, and how to optimize that conduit of communication in order ...

. Jacques Carelman had some of the objects of this catalog created and exhibited (from November 1974 to January 1975) in La Vieille Charité,

. He designed in 1972 a ''catalog of unfindable postage-stamps'' ''("Catalogue de timbres-poste introuvables")''.,Reissued by Emmanuel Pierrat at Les éditions Cartouche portraying for instance la Semeuse, the sowing woman which symbolizes

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on coins and stamps, swinging a tennis racket in her majestic gesture, or Papa Doc, the dictator of

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

, as Père Ubu. In recognition of the role played in the rebuilding of the OuPeinPo in 1980, Carelman bore the title of Régent of the Collège de Pataphysique, and was in charge of the chair of ''"Hélicologie"'', which purpose is to study the Gidouille, i.e. Père Ubu's belly, which is decorated with a spiral.

Main publications

* ''Catalog of fantastic things'', published 1971 by Ballantine Books in New York, americanized by Amram M. Ducovny, translated by Barbara and George Davidson from ''Catalogue d'objets introuvables et cependant indispensables aux personnes telles que acrobates, ajusteurs, amateurs d'art, alpinistes...'' Balland, Paris, 1969 - Livre de poche, 1975 - Le Cherche Midi, Paris, 1999, 2010. * ''A Catalogue of Unfindable Objects, Objets Introuvables'', published September 27, 1984 by Century Hutchinson. Other works in French: * ''Saroka la géante'', tale, Le Terrain vague, 1965 * ''Zazie dans le métro'', comic book based on

's novel, Gallimard, 1966 * ''Petit supplément à l'Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers de Diderot et d'Alembert, recueil de planches sur quelques sciences, métiers et arts mécaniques du XXe siècle, avec leur explication'', Balland, Paris, 1971 * ''Catalogue de timbres-poste introuvables'', Balland, Paris, 1972 - Les éditions Cartouche, Paris, 2011 * ''La Peinture au quart de tour'', Paris, Au crayon qui tue, 2000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carelman, Jacques 1929 births 2012 deaths 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French male painters 21st-century French painters 21st-century French male artists French illustrators Artists from Marseille