Franquin - Lot 193

Franquin ANDRÉ FRANQUIN MARSUPILAMI Original illustration, a gift from Franquin to the son of his daughter's schoolteacher in the early 1960s. Signed. India ink and colored inks on paper 22.5 × 17 cm (8.86 × 6.69 in.) This type of drawing by Franquin is extremely rare, especially in this format. Created in 1952 in Spirou et les héritiers, the Marsupilami is the product of an unrestrained imagination: a fabulous animal, half-monkey, half-feline with leopard skin, an interminable, prehensile tail and an almost human intelligence. Under Franquin's stroke, he becomes a symbol of freedom and invention: his elastic body and expressiveness also give him a real personality: curious, mischievous, affectionate but fearsome when provoked, he embodies vital instinct in all its simplicity, untamed nature. Graphically, the Marsupilami is a masterpiece of movement, rhythm and fantasy, a small miracle of visual dynamism and comic tenderness. In this drawing, everything is by Franquin: the décor with its gnarled vines and fleshy red flowers, the kind Marsupilamie loves to put in her ear. She's like a schoolteacher leading her class on a nature walk. The little ones all have some sort of satchel in their hands. She looks out at the audience, proud to lead her well-disciplined little troupe. A marvel.