« Le Fils » [The Son]

[1957].
Gouache and graphite on 1 sheet of canson (135 x 185 mm) pasted on strong cardboard (300 x 400 mm), studio stamp on back.

Original design for the dust jacket of the novel Le Fils, published by Presses de la Cité in 1957.
With a copy of the first edition from the library of Jean Jacquelin.

We apologize for the imperfect translation generated by Deepl for the purposes of the show.

Jean Jacquelin’s work for Presses de la Cité was the fruit of a collaboration with Georges Simenon, to whom he submitted his original layouts: the author gave him (or not) his approval, sometimes pointing out a few ideas. Several of the models are annotated by Simenon on the back.

For Le Fils, Simenon was initially offered three mock-ups. The final illustration was close to the last one, to which Jacquelin superimposed brighter colours that would later be reused. The dust jacket was the first in a series of 26 that would follow, until 1962, for original editions or reprints of titles already published. The artist designed the layouts until 1962, for a total of twenty-seven titles:

– Le Fils (1957, cover of the original edition)
– Le Nègre (1957, cover of the original edition)
– Strip-tease (1958, cover of the original edition)
– En cas de malheur (1958, cover of a reprint)
– L’Escalier de fer (1958, cover of a reprint)
– Dimanche (1958, cover of the original edition)
– Le Président (1958, cover of the original edition)
– Le Passage de la ligne (1958, cover of the original edition)
– La Neige était sale (1959, cover of a reprint)
– Les Témoins (1959, cover of a reprint)
– Le Veuf (1959, cover of the original edition)
– La Vieille (1959, cover of the original edition)
– Les Volets verts (1959, cover of a reprint)
– Une vie comme neuve (1960, cover of a new edition)
– Trois chambres à Manhattan (1960, cover of a new edition)
– Les Complices (1960, cover of a new edition)
– L’Ours en peluche (1960, cover of the original edition)
– Le Temps d’Anaïs (1960, cover of a new edition)
– Lettre à mon juge (1960, cover of a new edition)
– La Mort de Belle (1960, cover of a new edition)
– Feu rouges (1961, cover of a reprint)
– Je me souviens (1961, cover of a reprint)
– Betty (1961, cover of the original edition)
– Le Train (1961, cover of the original edition)
– Les Fantômes du chapelier (1961, cover of a reprint)
– La Porte (1962, cover of the original edition)
– Les Autres (1962, cover of the original edition)