ROCHETTE

JEAN-MARC ROCHETTE AILEFROIDE, ALTITUDE 3954, Casterman 2018 Original plate no. 108 accompanied by its preparatory stage in India ink and wash, and its blue coloring in inks, enhanced with pastel. Signed. Indian ink and graphite on paper 42 × 56 cm (16.54 × 22.05 in.) Preparatory stage: 30.8 × 42.5 cm As Rochette makes a lane with his mother, she slips, nearly dragging her son down with her. In a fraction of a second, the artist shows the chilling reality of a mountain accident: inattention, loss of balance, slipping and rescue in extremis, due to the whistling of the rope. A short story on a single panel, served up by effective composition. That day, my mother almost killed me. We were roped up and she started up a route without warning me. An accident in the mountains always starts with an insignificant gesture. I put my foot in the rope and lost the skin of my fingers, but the worst was avoided. J.-M.R.