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J'AIME
M.E.S Création Viewing the photographic image of the mural, “its message, on the menace
ET NOS OPTIONS

PREPARATION AUX

ECOLES D’ART
it’s difficult to disagree with the opinion of the
Stampflis, that Derso and Kelen were fine artists of losing freedom of speech is
and that l’Assaut de la Tribune is a magnificent
timeless.”
Litteraire,
work. In 1961 Kelen revealed to his fellow
international civil servants (he had retired in

had worked together, something he had ‘never
étude Sport.
before divulged’. Stefan and I, in our book,
to the désarroi de l’ esprit that prevailed in those
MUTUELLE D' ETUDES SECONDAIRES JOURNALISME, 1956 as UN TV Director) how he and Derso 11 Chez Maxim. I can ascribe this incident only
summarise his account that was published in
days wherever the shadows of Hitler, Mussolini,
UN Special: revue mensuelle des fonctionnaires
and Stalin fell.’
internationaux Genève:
‘Each was adept at a particular type of face, and Geneva was the hub of global diplomacy in 1936,
one or the other would take the lead. Derso evidenced by the pre-eminent politicians from
BACCALAUREAT INTERNATIONAL then inked in the faces and Kelen the backs of all corners of the globe who populate l’Assaut
the heads, the costumes, coiffure, hats and so
de la Tribune. Each is caricatured in a vivid and
on. They repeatedly passed a drawing back and colourful tableau of extraordinary creativity
forth between them till they were both satisfied and artistic imagination, inspired by an ancient
. . . Derso added finishing touches and whatever celebration in a city that was the home of Derso
www.ecolemes.ch lettering was in the drawing, and Kelen did the and Kelen ‘from youth to middle age’. The
colouring. Kelen adds that while Derso was
analogy of l’Escalade was a tribute to Geneva,
excellent at sketching postures and gestures, his and the theme was an hommage to their artistic
hands and feet had “a tendency to fly around” hero, Honoré Daumier. The two artists were
Journées portes ouvertes and it was his job “to sew the body together”.’ prescient in l’Assaut de la Tribune. Haile Selassie,

du 16 au 20 Mars de 13 à 17 heures They have been called ‘The Siamese Twins of in the speech he delivered to the Assembly,
Satire’. In other writings, Kelen tells us that Derso
looked beyond the aggression inflicted on his
was ‘a master of the fine-drawn line proper to own country. He emphasised the confidence that
decadent and precious faces’, while he preferred each State must place in international treaties
rugged bony faces. They collected heads, he and spotlighted the value of promises made
said, and by their special process shrunk them to small States to respect their integrity and
to the right proportions. L’Assaut de la Tribune independence. In itself, this renders the cartoon
manifests all the artistry that Kelen describes. significant for International Geneva. Its message,
on the menace of losing freedom of speech is
The catastrophe that Hitler was to inflict was timeless. The disappearance of an original mural
becoming apparent and the two artists, who on these themes is surely a great misfortune,
had lampooned him and who were Jews, were particularly in Geneva where political cartoons
in danger. They planned to seek refuge in the are celebrated. An image of the artwork surely
United States but needed the funds to do so. deserves to be displayed in the city in which it
Early in 1937, Derso wrote to the Secretary- was conceived.
General offering to provide, for CHF 15 000, a
10x12 metre panel for the Palais des Nations.
By way of example, he provided a photo of the
3-metre mural of l’Assaut de la Tribune, but
DETROMPE-TOI ! the proposal came to nothing. In December
1938, they finally were able to sail to the safety
of New York. They professed great affection for 1 David Macfadyen, Michael D.V. Davies,
the people of Geneva, ‘whose hospitality and Marilyn N. Carr and John Burley, Eric Drummond
friendship we had enjoyed for so long’. and His Legacies: e League of Nations and
the Beginnings of Global Governance, Palgrave
Kelen never forget the disapproving reception Macmillan, Cham, 2019.
of l’Assaut de la Tribune. Reflecting in Peace in 2 Stefan Slater and David Macfadyen, e
eir Time in 1963, he wrote: Political Cartoons of Derso and Kelen: Years of
‘from youth to middle age we had put on false Hope and Despair, Lund Humphries, London,
noses and danced through the night of December 2023, pp88-89.

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