Émile-Joseph Porphyre Pinchon (17 April 1871,Amiens – 20 June 1953, Paris) was a French painter, illustrator, designer and comic book creator, best known for his seriesBécassine.
Joseph Pinchon, born in Amiens in 1871, first studied painting withFernand Cormon. His brotherEmile Pinchon (1872–1933) was a sculptor. Joseph worked mainly as ananimalier, painting hunting scenes. He was vice-president of the painting section of theSociété Nationale des Beaux-Arts, which he had joined in 1899; they awarded him their Grand prix in 1928, and in 1948 theirPuvis de Chavannes prize.[1]
As an illustrator he contributed to many books, including an 1899 edition ofL'Arbre byGeorges Rodenbach, and a 1947 edition ofLa Grande Meute byPaul Vialar. From 1926 to 1929, he also provided satirical illustrations toL'Écho de Paris.[1]
From 1908 until 1914 he worked as the costume designer for theOpéra Garnier, the main location of the Paris Opera.[1]
In 1916 he joined the army as an infantryman.[2]
After the first world war, he also directed two movies,Mektoub, set in Marocco in 1919, andMon Village in 1920.[1]
But his main body of work are his comics and illustrations made for many French youth magazines. This started in 1903 inSaint-Nicolas, where he illustratedL'Automobile enchantée, written byHenry Gauthier-Villars. His biggest success came in 1905, when he illustrated the first story about Bécassine, created byJacqueline Rivière, about a young Breton girl, in the form of text comics (comic strips with the text beneath the drawings instead of in balloons). From 1913 on, the adventures of Bécassine were collected in 24 albums. Bécassine is considered to be the first female comic heroine.[3]
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