Gus Bofa, whose real name was Gustave Blanchot, was born in Brive-la-gaillarde, France, in 1883. From 1900, he started selling his first illustrations to magazines like Le Sourire, Le Rire and La Risette. He went to study Fine Arts in Paris, where he was also involved in several sports, like boxing. From 1905 until 1914 Gus Bofa was co-director of the Office d'Art et Publicité and mainly involved with making posters. He also wrote stories for the press, music hall revues, and theatrical chronicles for Le Rire and Le Sourire. His art additionally appeared in magazines like Le Rire, Le Sourire, La Petite Sirène, La Joie des Enfants and L'Illustré à Cinq Centimes.