Thanks to Thomas and his talent for endless reinvention. Thanks to Nathalie, Camille and Gauthier for their trust and their work. VINCENT I’d like to thank Nathalie, Camille and Vincent for their patience and support. Thanks to René Magritte and his ironic art for inspiring me and making me dream. Thanks to all the ways art has contributed to making me a better person. THOMAS
© Éditions du Lombard (Dargaud-Lombard S.A.) 2016, by Zabus, Campi www.lelombard.com All rights reserved The elements drawn out of Magritte‘s oeuvre are reinterpreted or copied in this book with the approval of The Magritte Foundation, represented by Monsieur Charly Herscovici. © Charly Herscovici - SABAM Belgium 2016
First published in English in 2017 by SelfMadeHero 139-141 Pancras Road London NW1 1UN www.selfmadehero.com Written by Vincent Zabus Illustrated by Thomas Campi Translated from French by Edward Gauvin Publishing Director: Emma Hayley Sales & Marketing Manager: Sam Humphrey Editorial & Production Manager: Guillaume Rater UK Publicist: Paul Smith US Publicist: Maya Bradford Designer: Txabi Jones With thanks to: Dan Lockwood
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-1-910593-37-0 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed and bound in Slovenia
No
You
have a key to t he museum ?
one will bot her you at t his hour .
Of course ! I work here !
This is my first visit …
Mademoiselle ?
Hey ! Psst !
?
People always walk right by me wit hout stopping . Stay
a while , won ’ t you ?
18
Why ? Because I’ m not one of his most famous works . And yet I’ m t he illustrat ion of one of his primary principles : invert ing a cliché !
Not to stop you , dear sir , but I deserve your at tent ion .
Wit h me , Magrit te was telling us : “What is hidden must be shown . ”
I’ m
t he key to all his work ! He was about blurring t he line bet ween paint ings and what t hey depicted .
No !
Magrit te ’ s
work is figurat ive , but also a permanent assault on representat ional art !
Real life is always in a somewhere else t hat doesn ’ t exist !
Paint ing t he real amounted to conceiving of it in images , a fruitful betrayal !
19
You can ’ t smoke a painted pipe !
The painter ’ s eye is a false mirror !
Every
object conceals anot her !
Paint ing must not act as a passive mirror of realit y , but rat her transform it !
Whew !
He
doesn ’ t li ke people impoverishing his visual ideas wit h words .
Trut h to tell , I’ ve no choice …
Why t his desire to answer t he quest ions paint ing asks of us ?
You ’ re not wort hy of wearing t hat hat .
20
Images are enough all by t hemselves !
I can ’ t take t his any more !
Why
force me to look
into Magrit te if he doesn ’ t li ke it ?
21
She never even told me her name … And why did she leave me all alone ?
Sigh …
?
! CHOOO
?!?
CHOOO! CHOOO
22
The
font ’ s too small ! I can ’ t hear you !
Can
you hear me now ?
23
I’ m Magrit te ’ s official biographer . I’ m taking you to Paris , old sport !
Do I get a say ?
In 1927 , René left to see k fame in t he French capital , li ke ot her Belgian painters before him .
No .
He stayed for t hree years , one of t he most creat ive periods in his career – more t han 175 canvases !
When wit h
he came back
Georget te —
Georget te ?
His wife . He married her in 1922 . Tell me you know t hat much , at least ?
EEEEH
Um …
EEEEE
Act ually , I…
W hat a nincompoop ! S ee here , if you really wish to penetrate t he mystery of M agrit te , you have to get to know her .
24
!!!
T he women in M agrit te ’ s oeuvre take on t he t housand faces of G eorget te .
As a teenager , René was racked by a hyperact ive and tort ured libido . It was Georget te who channelled his urges , lent his incoherent life struct ure .
They met in a carousel - salon just li ke t his one when she was t welve . Then t hey fell out of touch , before reunit ing in Brussels a few years later .
Muse , lover , housewife – she gave him a stable framework so he could pursue his paint ing .
25
Also available in the Art Masters series:
VINCENT by Barbara Stok
MUNCH by Steffen Kverneland
GAUGUIN by Fabrizio Dori
ISBN 978-1-906838-79-9 Paperback, 144 pages RRP: UK £12.99 US $19.95 CAN $21.95
ISBN 978-1-910593-12-7 Paperback, 280 pages RRP: UK £15.99 US $24.95 CAN $29.95
ISBN 978-1-910593-27-1 Paperback, 144 pages RRP: UK £12.99 US $19.95 CAN $23.95
Praise for the series:
Was he a madman, a genius or an exhibitionist? There is no shortage of labels for the Surrealist painter Salvador Dalí, as well known for his acts of public bravado as for his extraordinary work. Edmond Baudoin, one of the most original talents in contemporary French comics, sets out to discover the man behind the myth. What emerges is a heartfelt and inimitable account of two artistic worlds, each possessed of its own rare intensity, meeting for the first time. Commissioned by the Pompidou Centre in Paris, Dalí is a rigorously researched and absorbing portrait of a singular artist and an enigmatic man.
“SelfMadeHero’s brilliant Art Masters series.”
Rachel Cooke, The Observer “SelfMadeHero is putting a spin on the classic biography format… the publisher’s Art Masters graphic novel series US $19.95 / CAN $23.95 / UK £12.99
revives the form through Art MAsters
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Dali-cover_boxed_price.indd 1
27/05/2016 16:43
PABLO J. Birmant and C. Oubrerie
DALÍ by Baudoin
ISBN 978-1-906838-94-2 Paperback, 344 pages RRP: UK £16.99 US $27.50 CAN $33.50
ISBN 978-1-910593-15-8 Paperback, 160 pages RRP: UK £12.99 US $19.95 CAN $23.95
Available in all good bookshops
visual storytelling exploring the lives of some of art history’s greatest – with work by some of the comic industry’s top artists.”
The New York Observer