ANDRÉ FRANQUIN

ANDRÉ FRANQUIN Original illustration published in Le Journal de Spirou no. 1790, August 3, 1972. India ink on paper 34.8 × 25.5 cm (13.7 × 10.04 in.) Between 1971 and 1977, Franquin invented a multitude of cartoons to liven up the front page of Le Journal de Spirou, often commenting on the cover announcing the arrival of one of the paper's leading figures. For Franquin, this was not a constraint, but rather a recreation that allowed him to take a closer interest in the life of the newspaper. When the subject of the cover didn't allow for a character creation appropriate to the front page, Franquin found the subterfuge of using question marks and exclamation marks in dialogue. We find them here in this saraband of pencils and colors, proof if it were needed that this virtuoso could give an original life to any everyday object.