Today on the site, Cynthia Rose reports from the Grand Palais Hergé retrospective.
Although it is worshipped as a “ninth art” in France, the Grand Palais has never before dealt with the bande dessinée. Here their explicit intention is to elevate Hergé and place him alongside Vélasquez, Warhol and Picasso. Critics have made a lot of this but the show was tailored to justify it. Every day, as soon as it opens, the place is packed with crowds aged “from 7 to 77” – Tintin magazine’s summary of its target audience. Yet the show isn’t describing merely a master storyteller or a titan of the bande dessinée.
Its portrait is that of a royal figure, an authorised and reified Hergé. A true peer of the very artists he collected, he is seen as a great whose drawing merits comparisons to Dürer and Da Vinci. For brilliance, scope and artistry, the art on show is indeed singular and it can certainly withstand a little overzealousness. In 450 original pieces from all stages of Hergé’s life, a visitor gets both the creation myth and apotheosis of his ligne claire. As a bonus, he or she also sees private paintings plus an illuminating survey of Hergé’s graphic design.
And Sara Lautman comes in for day four of her diary.
Elsewhere:
-RESIST! is now available for pre-order and pick-up. Here's all the info.
-I love this article on correspondence course work by the little-known cartoonist Elizabeth Stohn.
-Michael Cavna at the Washington Post writes briefly and well about George Lucas's forthcoming museum.
-Tom Gauld and Ben Katchor each offer cartoons for coping.
