PAYS :États-unis DIFFUSION :(81140) PAGE(S) :9 JOURNALISTE : Inti Landauro SURFACE : 0 % PERIODICITE :Quotidien 27 septembre 2016 - N°168

ART The Adventures of Hergé BY INTI LANDAURO DESTINATION MUSEUM A new show looks FOUR DECADES AFTER the Belgian cartoonist at the work and influence of Belgian artist known as Hergé complained that comic book Georges Remi, whose still-popular cartoon art wasn't truly appreciated, the Grand Pal- explored far-flung places such as, ais in Paris is hosting an extensive rétro- below from left, China and the Soviet Union. spective of liis work. hope [comic book art] will have its rightful place, that it will become an expres- sion in itself like literature or Hergé, whose real name was Georges Remi, told biographer in 1969. Running Sept. 28 to Jan. 15, \Hergé\ marks the second time in a decade that the cartoonisfs work has been on display in a major French muséum and follows a wave of renewed interest globally. His signature cliar- acter, Tintin, has been the subject of recent shows in London and Barcelona, a 2011 Hol- lywood adaptation, a videogame and an app. At auction, his work is leading an increasing demand for comic art. I11April, original drawings of the last two pages of his Ottokar's from 1939, sold for €1.05 million ($1.2 million). The €2.6 million fetched at a nese war in the 1936 2014 Artcurial auction, LÉSAVENTURESDE Blue to the for drawings that graced emergence of big oil the cover pages of Tintin TINTIN REPORTER DU VINGTIEME. companies in the 1950 books from 1937 to 1958, AU PAYS of Black is the highest price paid it only briefly touches for a piece of comic art. DESSOVIETS on the controversies was a great art that have dogged liis master, not just within legacy: His time during comic says World War II working Jérôme Neutres, the for a newspaper con- Grand Palais's strategy trolled by pro-Nazi director who co-commis- owners in occupied Bel- sioned the new show. gium and the overt rac- The show highlights ism in the 1930 that breadth by featuring in the not only original cartoons, Hergé, who died in but posters and lettering 1983 at 76, later la- from Hergé's advertising mented the work, say- work and abstract can- ing it reflected a preju- vases he painted in the 1960s. Most of the Though far removed from diced view common at pieces, some rarely seen, are on loan from the his comic art in many the time. said in Hergé Foundation, which runs the Hergé Mu- senses, his ad work had the same minimalistic the 1960s that he wouldn't have made the al- séum in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. touch as la ligne claire. For example, the land- bum the same says Mr. Goddin. Born in Binssels in 1907, Hergé is consid- scape he designed for the cover of As he aged, Hergé became a contemporary ered the father of Franco-Belgian , the officiai newsletter of a Belgian camping art enthusiast, creating a collection with known as bandes dessinées. His quasi-realis- club, was created in just a dozen strokes. works by artists such as Roy Lichtenstein and tic style—which used a single line to create Gradually, though, Tintin became so popu- Andy Warhol, and painting his own abstract objects and characters and became known lar that Hergé dedicated ail of his time to the canvases. One 1963 untitled work shows col- as la ligne claire—influenced artists world- boy reporter's adventures, creating a studio orful, Joan Mirô-like amoebas floating on a wide, and his success paved the way for car- and hiring other artists to work with him. By brown background. But Hergé was never fully toonists such as Pierre Culliford (Smurfs) the late 1930s, almost ail of his commercial convinced by his paintings, Mr. Goddin says, and Albert Uderzo (Astérix). work was based on his cartoon characters. and kept most of them in an attic. The Grand But at the start of his career, Hergé saw While the exhibition delves into Hergé's Palais is one of the first times the works will his cartoons as secondary to liis work in ad- adventurous, and sometimes prescient, geo- be on display, adding a dose of avant-garde vertising graphie design, says Mr. Goddin. political explorations—from the Sino-Japa- to an otherwise action-packed show.

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