WILLETTE, LEON ADOLPHE French painter, illustrator, caricaturist, and lithographer, was born in Chalons-sur-Marne. He studied for four years at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Cabanel—a training which gave him a unique position among the graphic humorists of France. Whether comedy or tragedy, dainty triviality or political satire, his work is instinct with the profound sincerity of the artist. He set Pierrot upon a lofty pedestal among the imaginary heroes of France, and estab lished Mimi Pinson, frail, lovable, and essentially good-hearted, in the affections of the nation. Willette was at once the modern Watteau of the pencil, and the exponent of sentiments that move the emotional section of the public. There is charm even in his
thrilling apotheosis of the guillotine, and in the introduction into his caricatures of the figure of Death.
The artist was a prolific contributor to the French illustrated press under the pseudonyms "Cemoi," "Pierrot," "Louison," "Bebe," and "Nox," but more often under his own name. He illustrated Melandri's Les Pierrots and Les Giboulles d'avril, and published his own Pauvre Pierrot and other works, in which he tells his stories in scenes in the manner of Busch.