Clerice Freres

The Clerice Frères(Brothers), the illustrators François Clerice (1882) and Victor Clerice (1880) - worked and produced photos and posters for theater, liquor companies, and covers for sheet music. Their father Charles (Carlos) Clerice (of Norman origin) was born in 1860 in Buenos Aires, Argentina where he lived and worked. In 1882 after the death of his father along with his friend and fellow illustrator Candido de Faria, Clerice moved his family to France. In France he illustrated as a lithographer and illustrator of numerous books, magazines and comics. Charles’ two sons, François and Victor and his brother Justin Clerice created an artist's studio and lithographic company incorporated under the name Clerice Frères. Charles was sometimes helped by his brother Justin in the production of posters. These posters were usually signed Clerice Frères. The signature of Charles Clerice appeared regularly in the early editions of La Semaine de Suzette in the 1910s, made with strips of oriental figures. The work of Charles (Carlos) Clerice was showcased at the exhibition Engraving in Argentina in Rosario in 1942. In 1879, he illustrated the first edition of Martin Fierro, the story of a gaucho by the Argentine writer Jose Hernadez, published by the Libreria del Plata. It is likely, given the typical character style that most lithographs (posters, sheet music) are signed by a single person, namely Victor Clerice. Victor Clerice (1880) began at the age of sixteen making illustrations for the Journal de Voyages. Then he went on to illustrate stories, but that bored him and he went to make humorous drawings for local kranten. The brothers also published two books of L'Affaire du Courier de Lyon in 1938.