Vance - Lot 124

Vance WILLIAM VANCE ALL VANCE Roderic (T.7), Dargaud 2001 Original cover. Signed. Gouache on mount 36.5 × 51 cm (14.37 × 20.08 in.) Among the series that William Vance produced for Femmes d'Aujourd'hui, between Bob Morane and Ramiro, are two adventures of Roderic, a gallant knight in the Holy Land. The well-documented script was written by his fellow student at the Académie royale des Beaux-Arts, Lucien Meys. These two stories have been colorized and reunited in the complete Tout Vance series, published by Dargaud. In the first episode, Amathea, we discover a mysterious warrior who saves Roderic on several occasions: a haughty horsewoman, emerging like a divine specter, cut out of the disk of a full moon. Trained in the techniques of advertising illustration - where the rendering of materials must approach perfection - Vance delivers here a composition of impressive rigor. Amathea is enthroned in majesty, bathed in the light of the moon's reflection, in a striking image of beauty and power. The slight shift of the subject to the right is explained by a reserve made to leave room for the composition of the title.