FRANQUIN

ANDRÉ FRANQUIN GASTON Des Gaffes et des dégâts (T.6), Dupuis 1968 Original illustration for a cover project. Signed. India ink and gouache on paper 11.1 x 15.1 cm (4.37 x 5.94 in.) This was done at the time, but was rare in Franquin's case: following the example of advertising practice, the publisher would ask the author to produce three "roughs", or cover designs, for submission to his sales team. Franquin was well aware of the stakes: print runs at the time were approaching one million copies, distributed by one of the best sales forces of the time: Fleurus Diffusion. His criterion was to do as Peyo had taught him: remain legible beyond a few meters. These tests were often carried out quickly in watercolor, "to get an idea". Not so with Franquin, whose line and color execution are of the utmost meticulousness, right down to the slightly shaky title typeface: "Gaston", which he reproduces in small format, the only mark of authenticity in the end that guarantees that this drawing is indeed preparatory to the cover and not the final cover, such is its confounding perfection. A museum piece.