André Juillard Retrospective

This is the very first retrospective devoted to this great master of comic art (Grand Prix du Festival d'Angoulême 1996) in tribute to the artist, who passed away in 2024. Organized in collaboration with André Juillard's family, this exhibition spans 40 years of creation covering the period from 1983 to 2024. 350 works are on display, including original pages, covers, and illustrations from his iconic series and books: Les 7 Vies de l’Épervier, Plume aux vents, Le Cahier bleu, Après la Pluie, Arno, Double 7, Masquerouge, Mezek, Léna and Blake and Mortimer based on E.P. Jacobs, including pages from the album Signé Olrik, the last adventure illustrated by André Juillard.

The exhibition also unveils a series of freehand drawings on paper featuring female nudes, portraits of his famous heroines (Ariane, Louise, Eve, Lena), landscapes and preparatory sketches. All these side pieces highlight what is most essential in André Juillard's work: his love of drawing and paper, and the need to draw, which was to him as natural as breathing. Created in pencil, ink or charcoal, in color or in black and white, these illustrations also reflect the diversity of techniques and graphic styles mastered by André Juillard, an outstanding cartoonist and colorist, as well as the elegance of his line. 

This exhibition retraces the masterful work of one of the most talented artists of his time, an artist admired by his peers, through the works of a lifetime devoted to drawing.