Jean-jacques Sempé, illustrator of New Yorker covers, dies at 89

A lone cyclist crosses the Brooklyn Bridge in the rain. A black cat sits contently on the knobby end of a banister. A solitary summer beachgoer does a handstand at dawn.

Each drawing is shown from a distance, as if you were lucky enough to stumble upon a private little treasure and pause to smile at life. This was the world crafted by French artist and illustrator Jean-jacques Sempé for more than six decades — whimsical, playful and at times ironical — in anthologies, the popular “Le Petit Nicolas” (Little Nicolas) series and more than 100 covers for the New Yorker magazine.

“What I like so much about cartoons is the way they can express certain ideas discreetly,” Sempé was quoted as saying in a 2014 book, “C’est La Vie! The Wonderful World of Jean-jacques Sempé.” “It is a way of talking about yourself without really seeming to do so.”

Sempé, who died Aug. 11 at 89, said he was enraptured as a boy listening to jazz greats such as Duke Ellington and Count Basie and how their music could convey feelings without words. Sempé appeared to borrow some of the same sensibilities. He used captions and written puns sparingly — allowing his ink-and-watercolor images to comment on life’s timeless wonders, foibles and pleasant absurdities.

He often preferred a distant vantage point, artistically surveying scenes from high above or across grand cityscapes of New York or Paris, his two main points of reference. The hard edges of reality were pushed aside. What was left were charming reminders to pay attention to the special moments when they come along.