Music and Sketchs

Edith Piaf

Daughter of an acrobat and a singer, Edith Giovanna Gassion, was one of the most famous artists of the XX century. She had a really sad childhood since early in her life her parents got divorced. Both of her parents were alcoholics, but since her mother was also sick, she left Edith under the custody of her dad and grandma. Because of the bad economic situation they were in, she had to go sing in the streets to get some money. Everything got worse when, at age 16, she got pregnant. In 1932 she gave birth to her daughter, who died two years later. It was really hard for her to not give up after this tragedy, so she kept singing on the cafes and clubs of lower status in Paris. One day Louis Leplee, owner of one of the most famous cabarets, heard her and immediately hired her. Years later the artist Edith Piaf was born and her song Mome Piaf was a success. Unfortunately, Leplee was killed and the police was suspicious of her, which made the public reject so she had to go back to singing in low status places.

After WWII she became one of the most famous poets in Paris and she's started gaining people's admiration again. She started to give big shows, perform in famous places, and meet famous people.

In 1946 she met the love of her life who died in an airplane accident. This got her into a big depression that she later got over with. At the same time, it was during this period that her song La Vie en Rose came out.

During the 50's she worked with a lot of famous people like Charles Aznavour. However she was in an accident that left her severely injured and she became a heroin addict. Besides she was diagnosed with several diseases and in 1595 with cancer.

In 1961 she got an award from the Charles Cros academy and years later in 1963 she unfortunately died.

Her songs

Mon légionnaire

Je ne regrette rien

La vie en rose

Les amants de Paris

Hymne a l’amour

Mon dieu

Milord

The Project

For this project the teacher picked 9 singers and she put the music of them while we, the students, had to draw what first came to mind when listening to their songs.

My Project

When listening to Edith Piaff I didn't know who the singer was or any of her background information. what first came to my mind was Paris, more specifically a women holding a flower waiting for someone in a typical french apartment with the Eiffel Tower on the background. I quickly sketched this scene with pencil during the class and later I painted it with watercolors.