GABRIELLE VINCENT

GABRIELLE VINCENT ERNEST AND CELESTINE Musiciens des rues, Éditions Duculot 1981 Négociation musicale, original illustration. Watercolor on paper 24.1 × 17 cm (9.49 × 6.69 in.) Célestine is once again pleading with Ernest; this time, she's even gone to his room to fetch him. But why is it that Ernest, who is always so quick to indulge her whimsical requests - because they often correspond to the projects that motivate him - seems so circumspect? For him, it's a matter of going back to what he's given up: music, and through it, his past and his origins. Célestine is tender, pleading but not pressing; she certainly senses that music is a sensitive subject for Ernest; the return to his roots, he plunges into his past; we feel lost, and for once she doesn't abuse it; music is no laughing matter. In the background, with the frames, the coat rack and the hat, it's as if we're in a Dutch painting; the chromatic range is very reduced, yet we can see a thousand nuances, the bed bathed in light, light that fades but still illuminates Ernest and Célestine.