HERMANN

HERMANN ◊ BLOOD LINKS Le Lombard 2000 Original plate no. 44, prepublished in Bo Doi n° 32 of July 2000. Signed. India ink and colored inks on paper 32.5 × 43 cm (12.8 × 16.93 in.) Beautiful direct-color plate from a story concocted by Yves H., Hermann's own son. A scenario full of derision, it takes on most of the clichés of the detective story, with talent and undisguised admiration, even if it means, here and there, a little wink-tribute to Edward Hopper's famous painting Nighthawks. Yves H. (H for Huppen, a name he shares with his father) ironically follows the Oedipus metaphor - the famous "murder of the father" - not without introducing the Devil into the course of the story. The result is a thriller with fantastic overtones. In this sequence, every object seems to mock the hero, who is led, as if in a nightmare, through a grimacing baroque saraband that culminates in the discovery of the master of the premises. A sequence that Hermann controls to perfection, notably in the subtle marriage of complementary colors.