Enki Bilal and the Ghosts of the Louvre

Today comic books and cartoons have entered auction houses and have met a strong market, yet the question of what is art is always in the air. Enki Bilal is one of the artists who contributed to giving its credentials to this genre and blurring the lines between fine art and secondary art. 

Born in 1951 in Belgrade – ex-Yougoslavia- with Tito’s tailorman as a father, very early on Enki Bilal developed a universe marked by the troubled history of his country and his exile to France when he was 10. He discovered cartoons and cinema in Paris. After winning a first cartoon contest at the age of 20, he decided to dedicate himself to drawing. He also produced several movies embued with the same fantasy universe of his comic book drawings such as Bunker Palace Hotel and Tykho Moon. 

Celebrated last year by the Musée des Arts et Métiers in an exhibition entitled Mécanhumanimal, Enki Bilal also made a series of work inspired by the masterpieces of the Louvre Museum for which he took original pictures of up to 400 emblematic pieces under. Out of these 400 images, he chose only 23 that he printed on canvas and on which he drew vanishing figures in pastel and acrylic.

These figures are the ghosts of the Louvre: women, men and children wandering near the work of art that tied their fate -the Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, an Egyptian bust, or a liying Christ. The modern touch of Enki Bilal’ style associated to the Louvre’s classical masterpieces provoke a rich and fascinating dialogue. This series was exhibited at the famous Salle des Sept-Cheminées of the Louvre from December 20th 2012 to March 18th 2013.

Artsper has selected for you 6 of the most beautiful ghosts of the Louvre… we let you judge for yourself !

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