MONGE

JEAN-BAPTISTE MONGE IN SEARCH OF ENCHANTMENT La Disparition (T.2), Au Bord des continents 2004 Original illustration. Signed. Watercolor and gouache on paper 48.3 × 34 cm (19.02 × 13.39 in.) There's a world behind Jean-Baptiste Monge, and this illustration shows it well: there's a whole world of faeries under the pen of this scribe, a sort of mix between René Hausman and Pierre Dubois, with references to the works of great illustrators such as Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac and Anton Pieck. With his hyper-realistic drawing, Jean-Baptiste Monge makes visible the "little people", who usually don't show themselves, frightened as they are of the mediocrity of men. They are called goblins, gnomes, leprechauns, korrigans and many other names, sometimes exotic in other latitudes. They're there, beside you, making an imperceptible noise to your poor human ears. Only a few scientists know them, hear them, talk to them, like this busy scribe who hastily transcribes all their secrets. He knows that this is madness. The bell is there to remind him.