Andy Warhol

popular name: Siné

date_of_death: May 5, 2016

age: 87

cause_of_death: Surgery for lung cancer

claim_to_fame: Artists

best_know_for: Siné was a controversial French cartoonist and caricaturist whose early successes in this arena led him into the fields as a book illustrator and designer of posters, stage decors, animated cartoons and publicity films. Siné began his professional career as a retoucher for pornographic magazines and published his first cartoon in France Dimanche in 1952 which won the Black Humour Award for his cartoon collection 'Complainte sans Paroles' in 1955. Siné became especially famous for his wordplay cartoons about cats. Until 1962, he made political cartoons for L'Express, some of which were refused or caused heavy criticism. He subsequently published his anti-colonial, anti-zionist, anti-capitalist and anti-clerical worldviews in his own publication, Siné Massacre. Siné's anarchistic and anti-colonial cartoons have caused controversy on several occasions during his career, especially during the Algerian war. He was fired from Charlie-Hebdo in 2008, following a antisemitic cartoon on Jessica Sebaoun-Darty, the wife of Jean Sarkozy. In August of 2008 he announced his own satirical weekly, called Siné Hebdo, launched with his wife Catherine Sinet and about 15 contributors. The publication ran until April 2010, but was continued as Siné Mensuel in September 2011. Siné has additionally made many drawings for books about jazz music, as well as CD covers.

popular name: Gustave Caillebotte

date_of_death: February 21, 1894

age: 45

cause_of_death: Stroke

claim_to_fame: Artists

best_know_for: Gustave Caillebotte was a French painter who was a member and patron of the Impressionists, although he painted in a more realistic manner than many others in the group. He was noted for his early interest in photography as an art form, and is best known for his paintings of urban Paris, such as The Europe Bridge (Le Pont de l'Europe) (1876), and Paris Street; Rainy Day (Rue de Paris; temps de pluie, also known as La Place de l'Europe, temps de pluie) (1877). Born in Paris in 1848, Caillebotte studied law and engineering before fighting in the Franco–Prussian War from 1870 to 1871. After the war’s end, he studied at the studio of Léon Bonnat and later at the École des Beaux Arts. Upon meeting Edgar Degas, Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet, Caillebotte experimented further with capturing the changing face of everyday Parisian life. Caillebotte made his debut in the second Impressionist exhibition in 1876, showing eight paintings, including Les raboteurs de parquet (The Floor Scrapers) (1875), his earliest masterpiece. Cropping and "zooming-in", techniques that commonly are found in Caillebotte's oeuvre, may also be the result of his interest in photography, but may just as likely be derived from his intense interest in perspective effects. A large number of Caillebotte's works also employ a very high vantage point, including View of Rooftops (Snow) (Vue de toits (Effet de neige)) (1878), Boulevard Seen from Above (Boulevard vu d'en haut) (1880), and A Traffic Island (Un refuge, boulevard Haussmann) (1880).

popular name: Théodore Géricault

date_of_death: January 26, 1824

age: 32

cause_of_death: Complications from a spinal tumor

claim_to_fame: Artists

best_know_for: Théodore Géricault was one of the pioneers of the Romantic movement and his expressive works include portraits and military themes. His best-known painting is The Raft of Medusa which is a dramatic interpretation of the aftermath of a French shipwreck, a contemporary tragedy. born in Rouen, France to an upper middle-class family, Géricault's family moved to Paris in 1797 when he was 5 years old. Though he had shown an early promise in art, his father did not want him to pursue it as a career. After his mother died in 1808, he received an annuity which gave him some form of financial independence. At 17 years old, Géricault started secretly studying art under Carle Vernet. Vernet specialized in military paintings, genre paintings, and equestrian paintings. In 1810, wanting a more formal training, he studied classical figure art under Pierre-Narcisse Guérin. After 11 months, he opted instead to just paint the masters at the Louvre (only to be banned for getting into a heated argument with another artist). In 1819, Géricault completed what would become his most famous painting, “The Raft of the Medusa”. It depicted the harrowing last hours of a recent shipwreck that became a national disaster. In 1819, the painting was exhibited at the annual Paris Salon and, though it was awarded a gold medal, received conflicted reviews for the political undertones. In 1820, Géricault toured the painting through England, where it was a success. Later in his life he traveled to England where visions of the poor and downtrodden greatly impacted his art. Plagued by ill health all his life, Géricault died in 1824 at just 32 years old. Months later, the Louvre purchased “The Raft of Medusa”. He was interred at Cimetière du Père-Lachaise in Paris, France.