Arno/Original drawing illustrating a cat and children in the playground. Graphite and India ink. Signed and dated 2004. TBE+. 32 X 25 cm Arno (1961-1996), real name Arnaud Dombre, travels the world with his father, who teaches French abroad. In 1977, at the age of 16, Arno returned to France with his Finnish mother. He passed his baccalaureate, then spent a year at a drawing academy preparing for the grandes écoles. But he failed the entrance exams. 1979: At the age of nineteen, he began publishing in the magazine Métal Hurlant. It was there that he met Alexandro Jodorowsky, director of La Montagne Sacrée, El Topo and Tusk, and writer and scriptwriter of comic strips, in particular the Adventures of John Difool with Moebius. With Jodorowsky, Arno undertakes the adventures of Alef-Thau, a vast fairy-tale saga in which the elegance and fluidity of his line work wonders. 1985: Publication of Kids, a collection of short stories about childhood drawn by Arno for Je Bouquine magazine. 1993: Publication of Augustin, la Croisée des Chemins, by Casterman. July 7, 1996: Arno dies in Paris. He was drawing the eighth volume of Alef-Thau. In it, his immortal hero discovered love and... death.