VANCE

WILLIAM VANCE BRUCE J. HAWKER LES BOURREAUX DE LA NUIT (T.6), LE LOMBARD 1991 Original cover. Signed. Oil on canvas 50 x 65 cm (19.69 x 25.59 in.) William Vance is the king of atmospheres. Especially marine atmospheres. Here, we're in the middle of London, and smog has fallen on the Thames. The sky is black and threatening, as are the masked kidnappers standing on the boat. The boat moves slowly along, avoiding the sandbanks by the light of the lantern. In this story, Bruce Hawker's own adoptive father is kidnapped by thugs. This cover, an oil on canvas, takes us far beyond the comic strip. It's a true work of art, whose influences can be felt: English painters such as John Constable, Luke Howard and William Turner, whose painting made Oscar Wilde say: "Nature imitates art", so much so that its retinal imprint definitively changed the way we looked at a landscape. This is an absolutely remarkable piece.