CUZOR - Lot 39

CUZOR STEVE CUZOR HENRY FLEMING'S BATTLE Dupuis 2024 Original plate no. 48. Signed. India ink and white gouache on paper 48 × 62 cm (18.9 × 24.41 in.) Henry has fled into the woods where he thought he'd be alone, but he's just come across a group of artillerymen preparing their cannons. Then, in a luminous halo, horsemen gallop past, sabers drawn. Are they ghosts? No, the war goes on without him. Men are fighting. He's going to have to not only hide, but face up to the cowardice he's now discovering... I have a very clear memory of this page, which gave me a hard time. In the first version I did, the horses, harnesses and uniforms were extremely detailed. But when I hung the board on the wall, you couldn't see anything, it didn't work. I'd forgotten the light! So I shaded everything to direct the eye, and give the whole thing an almost fantastical dimension that I really like. S.C. As well as being a loyal friend, Steve is a damn good storyteller in drawings. These originals about America's bloody Civil War reflect the tragedy perfectly, with black and white used to particularly effective effect. However, the harshness of this encounter is modulated by an infinite variety of grays, not by the color itself, but by an extremely rich play of black and white solids in the form of crosshatching, stippling and small spots of all shapes. In the negative, the gray is sometimes obtained by scratching. In this graphic game, Steve reveals himself to be a master of light and shadow. As for his narration, I love this "cinematic" aspect: he uses his pencil as he would a camera, and the shots follow one another with simple, effective clarity and flexibility. That's how I like comics, bravo Steve. Jean-Claude Fournier