JUILLARD - Lot 89

JUILLARD ANDRÉ JUILLARD Après la pluie, Casterman Original illustration for the dust jacket published by Galerie Daniel Maghen in 1998. Signed. Colored inks and graphite on paper 61.2 × 36 cm (24.09 × 14.17 in.) This special cover for Après la pluie, a romantic thriller and spin-off from Le Cahier bleu, shows Eve in her Paris apartment. Juillard is obviously at home in this calm, peaceful, delicate yet moving scene. It's a very simple set, with a portrait of Louise, the main heroine of the previous album, Le Cahier bleu, on the left cabinet; a drawing of Eve's lover Abel on the right; and a sketch of Eve and Tristan, whose disappearance justifies the whole plot, on the left wall. We are struck by the light that emanates from this scene, with its light, delicate, almost transparent colors, in a dominant yellow that highlights the more intense blue of the dress, sculpting an impeccable drape. A magnificent portrait of a woman, the quintessence of beauty, in which we can see that Juillard has learned the lessons of light and composition from the great masters of painting, such as Vermeer, as the window opens up a perspective on Paris where the gaze plunges.