Gustave Fraipont

Gustave Mathieu Joseph Fraipont, born in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode on May 9, 1849 and died in Paris 6e on April 29, 1923, was a French painter, sculptor, illustrator and poster artist of Belgian origin.

Gustave Fraipont was a pupil of Henri Hendrickx and Henri de Hern. Belgian by birth, he became a naturalized French citizen after the 1870 war, during which he enlisted in the French army. A drawing teacher at the Maison d'éducation de la Légion d'honneur, he is the author of numerous works on drawing techniques. In 1885, he provided illustrations for the series Le Littoral de la France published by Victor Palmé. He also illustrated books on Paris and the French regions.

He contributed to numerous newspapers and magazines, including Courrier français and Paris illustré. He was one of the founding members of the Société des artistes lithographes français (1884). In 1905, he was appointed painter to the French Navy.

During the First World War, he produced several compositions for the newspaper L'Illustration, notably on monuments destroyed by the war: halles in Ypres, Reims cathedral and Arras town hall. In 1917, he was commissioned by the Banque de France to design a new 20-franc bill, but his project was rejected.