ROCHETTE

JEAN-MARC ROCHETTE Le Mont blanc, original illustration created in 2022 for a poster published by Les Étages. Signed. Wash on paper 76 × 55.8 cm (29.92 × 21.97 in.) The highest point in the Alps and in Western Europe at 4,807 meters, Mont Blanc has been drawn and represented many times. Rochette has chosen to treat it from a singular angle, in the background, as a distant giant, snow-covered and deceptively peaceful. The eagle in the foreground and the craggy summit in the background are reminders of the altitude, cold and immanent threat of the high mountains. I wanted a realistic, almost photographic effect on the nearby mountains. It's almost as if you're looking at a 1930s print, taken with a view camera. On the other hand, I wanted the eagle to appear as an allegory, a mythical animal, "a dark angel of the mountain". It forms a perfect X with Mont Blanc behind it, bringing a beautiful depth to the image. J.-M.R.