French cartoonist Sempe, famous for New Yorker covers, dies age 89

FILE PHOTO: View of the exhibition Le Petit Nicolas (Little Nicolas) at Paris City Hall March 5, 2009. Created 50 years ago by writer Rene Goscinny, also the author of Asterix, and Jean-Jacques Sempe, an illustrator who has drawn covers for the New Yorker magazine, Le Petit Nicolas (Little Nicolas) is one of France's best loved characters. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

PARIS (Reuters) - French cartoonist Jean-Jacques Sempe, who won international acclaim with a series of more than 100 drawings for the covers of The New Yorker magazine, has died at age 89, news agency AFP reported, quoting his biographer.

His cartoons often showed small figures set in large urban landscapes, drawn in delicate lines and offering gentle social commentary on modern life.