ABSTRACT
If any French singer was guaranteed to cause controversy, it would surely be Gainsbourg. Although he was mainly known for his music, his other great passion was painting, which was his father’s profession. After studying fine art in Paris and a spell as bar pianist, he sang in the Left Bank cabarets and Théâtre des Trois Baudets, achieving initial success in 1958 with Le Poinçonneur des lilas (The TicketPuncher on the Tube).
