141 - Juillard

Juillard ANDRÉ JUILLARD Le Cahier bleu, Casterman 1994 Original plate no. 12, previously published in (À Suivre) no. 191, December 1993. Signed. India ink and colored inks on paper 30 × 40 cm (11.81 × 15.75 in.) With *Le Cahier bleu*, which earned him the Angoulême Grand Prix as a “complete” author, Juillard moves away from grand historical epics such as *Les Sept Vies de l’Épervier* toward a contemporary romantic drama in which Paris plays a central role. In an opening scene—a variation on the premise of Hitchcock’s *Rear Window*—a form of voyeurism is at play: windows, mirrors, urban fixtures, streets, and Haussmann-style facades structure a scene in which Juillard pays meticulous attention to every detail. In this panel, rendered with Proustian precision, we learn that our protagonists have gone to see a classical music concert featuring Czech composers. The Théâtre du Châtelet is perfectly depicted. But what is truly remarkable is the treatment of light and color. The light, because we can see that it is a summer evening where the sun has not yet set by the end of the concert. And then there are these soft textures created with Ecoline inks, which perfectly capture the evening falling like a eyelid over the City of Light.