PORTRAIT OF A CARTOONIST
Jacques Goldstyn, a.k.a. Boris, finds a new audience
Last year, at the age of 59, renowned Quebec illustrator Jacques Goldstyn — known as Boris to Gazette readers — was tasked with following in the footsteps of a local legend.
Goldstyn, best known in the francophone community for his illustrations in the science magazine Les Débrouillards, was invited to replace Terry Mosher, a.k.a. Aislin, as the Gazette’s chief editorial cartoonist. Mosher continues to draw one new editorial cartoon per week and provides one historical cartoon. Goldstyn’s work appears Wednesdays and Fridays; a few of his favourite contributions are on these pages.
Mosher wrote in December that Montreal has the greatest number of political cartoonists at daily newspapers of any North American city. That illustrious fraternity includes Mosher and Michel Garneau, the cartoonist at Le Devoir and a friend of Goldstyn. It was Mosher who reached out to Goldstyn two years ago, at an exhibition in Val-David. The two have a similar, precise way of drawing, with Goldstyn growing up reading Mosher’s cartoons in the paper. They stayed in touch, and talked again a few months later.
“He called me a year and a half ago, and asked if I was interested in drawing for the Gazette,” Goldstyn recalled. “I was flattered, but I was also terrified.”
The challenge is one the Verdunraised illustrator, whose parents are from France and met in Montreal following the Second World War, compared to working while partially blind. “I’m out of my comfort zone,” he said about writing captions and dialogue in English, his second language.
“(In French) I’m very, very good at finding new words, making jokes, things like that,” he explained.
Goldstyn has been a cartoonist for four decades, including the past 35 years with Les Débrouillards. He draws seven days a week, and his sketches include everything from biology cartoons to political caricatures.
For Les Débrouillards, he uses his pen to draw the story of a new scientific gadget.
For the Gazette, he may use the same pen to (perhaps humorously) draw the story of a scientific debate. The process is fairly similar, he said, but the intentions differ. With science cartoons, he wants his readers (mostly children and preteens) to think logically about what they’re seeing and understand the concepts. For his political cartoons, the goal is more for his audience to interpret whatever issue or person he’s depicting. It’s reality versus abstract.
Goldstyn’s background differs from that of many cartoonists. Whereas Mosher got his start drawing for tourists on the streets of Quebec City, Goldstyn’s start was in geology. His work as a geologist took him to rural Quebec, then to Calgary for two years, before he was recruited to illustrate full time in Montreal. An engineer working for a Montreal editor asked him to illustrate Les Petits Débrouillards, a book about science experiments for kids.
The book sold more than 40,000 copies and spawned Les Débrouillards magazine.
“It was a huge success in Quebec … so I quit my job as a geologist and I started drawing for this editor.”
Following his return home, Goldstyn’s career evolved and he took on more illustrating projects. He wrote numerous children’s books, including Le Petit Tabarnak and Letters to a Prisoner, a wordless book about a man detained at a protest.
In November, Goldstyn received a Governor General Literary Award for Azadah, a book about a young Afghan girl who befriends a female German photographer on assignment in the country. The little girl wants to discover the world with her new friend. Given the topic, Goldstyn was surprised to receive the honour.
“It’s a difficult time to draw this, especially in Quebec or in Canada, because it’s a very sensitive subject,” he said. “I thought, ‘There’s no way I can get an award for this.’ ”
Longevity is something Goldstyn strives for when he puts pen to paper. “I like a cartoon that’s going to last,” he said.
Goldstyn has also provided illustrations to charitable causes around Montreal, including Au bas de l’échelle, an organization that advocates on behalf of nonunionized workers.
“Even if I’m not paid (for that work), it’s too important,” he said.
“It’s not that big an involvement for me — it’s just a drawing, but for them it could make a huge difference.”
As for the origins of his nom de plume, Goldstyn chose it in honour of Boris Yefimov, a prominent 20th-century Russian cartoonist best known for depicting Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin.
“He was a very, very good cartoonist,” Goldstyn said. “Actually, Hitler said, ‘If I get to Moscow, I’m going to get you.’ ”
Despite his prominence in the francophone community, Goldstyn takes a great deal of pride in his new role as an English-language cartoonist. He enjoys the surprise of longtime fans who grew up with his science cartoons when they see his latest work.
“In French, I’m pretty well known,” he said. “But the French don’t know anything about my work at the Gazette.
“I love that. It’s like two personalities.”