Romain HUGAULT (né en 1979)

St Ex, a prince in his citadel Graphite on paper for this quadriptych of the arrival of the Latécoère 521 in New York in 1938. Signed lower right. 35 x 118 cm. Paquet, 2020. August 1938, Henri Guillaumet, the hero of the Andes, takes his old friend from the time of the aeropostale Antoine de Saint Exupéry for a test flight Biscarrosse / Lisbon / Azores / New York. This illustration shows the arrival in Manhattan of the enormous Latécoère 521 seaplane, a scene that heralds the next passenger flights between the old continent and the Americas. The gigantism of the French machine, piloted by aviation pioneers, mirrors the greatness of France, which, like its dreams, will be swept away in 1940 by defeat. This is a first for Romain Hugault, illustrator of aviation comics, who is stepping out of his comfort zone. Here he creates a large illustration, showing the city in 1938, and underlines by its details the complexity of the hexamotor machine that links men between continents.