The news came as a bombshell: «We were sad to learn of the disappearance of Pierre Le-Tan, which occurred on Tuesday 17 September 2019 Paris, at the age of 69 years, following a long illness.» For those who have known the man and the artist, the emotion is strong. Pierre Le-Tan was a painter and draughtsman, he illustrated the american magazines, including the New Yorker , and the covers of the novels of Patrick Modiano (Folio). The two men were inseparable. They had also co-authored Memory Lane , and Blonde Doll. And the next book of The-Tan, the output of which is scheduled for November 6, is prefaced by the Nobel Prize for literature 2014, Paris of my youth (Stock).
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Pierre Le-Tan started her career by designing the covers of the New Yorker . He has illustrated many books in French as in English, of which Gardens. The real and other , of Umberto Pasti, and A Booklover’s Guide to New York , her daughter, Cleo Le-Tan. He is the author of, among others Meetings of a life . Collecting was also one of his great passions. We had spoken on the occasion of the release of his book a Few collectors (published by Flammarion), in November 2013.
In his apartment, nothing has less than fifty years. Apart from the phone. The books are bound in leather, the carpet worn down to the cord, the lamps have a foot in copper and halos round
elsewhere, in his apartment, nothing has less than fifty years. Apart from the phone. The books are bound in leather, the carpet worn down to the cord, the lamps have a foot in copper and halos round the old. We don’t imagine the threads of a box to carve their way in this seductive morass. On his desk, tubes of gouache and brushes have lived. The cartoonist uses them to the end. The new enquiquine, the former inspires.
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The proof is in his book a Few collectors , in which he recounted his meetings with collectors, enthusiasts, like him, who slow down the march of time surrounding ancient sights. The-Tan was in his books, as in life, the manner courteous and the tone hushed. The designer invited the reader to follow in inaccessible caves of Ali Baba. Cocteau was one of his authors of choice.
Pierre Le-Tan emerged the strange in his writings as in his designs, with a gallery of portraits, real or imaginary, inspired by his meetings in houses full of objects revered by their owners, the dolls of porcelain, wax masks mortuary, ceramic tile, islamic, Murano glass, love letters.
Boris Kochno, the spiritual father
With Patrick Modiano, he shared a taste for eras that have lived through their parents and the immediate post-war atmosphere of paris between dog and wolf, the interiors are loaded, the Sundays of August. Boris Kochno, the spiritual father of The-Tan, was the secretary of sergei Diaghilev, friend of Picasso, and Christian Bérard, The-Tan, himself, had long been a collection of drawings and paintings. The death of Kochno were scattered, his letters to Cole Porter, the love letters of Stravinsky to his wife, an argument of the ballet by Celine, paintings by Lucian Freud. All of this has today joined the museums.
The-Tan was in his books, as in life, the manner courteous and the tone hushed. The designer invited the reader to follow in inaccessible caves of Ali Baba
about Modiano, Le-Tan told the Figaro the genesis of their meeting. «I knew him through his stories. And what it tells – the times, places, Paris… – talked to me a lot. One day, my father told me that he had known his parents. I then wrote a letter. Then, we met. The first time was in 1978. Our meeting and our conversations have led to two realizations ; in 1981, it has developed ensembleMemory Lane.» In 1983, they have designed a funny subject literary: blonde Doll, a sort of programme of a play… which, finally, has never been played! Le-Tan explained that, generally, it is very complicated to work with two, but with the author of the Boulevards belt, it was simple. The stroke of the pen of the other release something mysterious, through moods, characters, places. «I share with him this mania to keep everything: newspaper clippings, old photos, papers. It is said that this would eventually be used one day, and it is often the starting point of something», we gave The Tan.
