BIOGRAPHICAL LANDMARKS

1962

FIRST DRAWINGS PUBLISHED

Jean Gourmelin’s first drawing is published in the 23rd issue of Bizarre, a review created by publisher Éric Losfeld then taken over by Jean-Jacques Pauvert, both devoted to the promotion of drawings and cartoons. In every issue of Bizarre, this notice can be read: ‘Drawings may be presented every Wednesday at 8, rue de Nesle, from 3pm to 5pm, and on other days by appointment.’

Like Topor before him, Jean Gourmelin goes there one day to submit his drawings. This visit to Bizarre is a decisive step in his career as an original artist. His meeting with Louis Pauwels, founder of Planète (a review and a publishing house), leads to a long and fruitful collaboration.

Roland Topor (1938-1997) was a French designer and writer who practiced his criticism of humanity in a different way from Gourmelin. They are alike in their pen-stroke and their treatment of the image with cross-hatching that recalls the traditional use of the chisel in sculpture. But Topor is mocking when Gourmelin is ironic, macabre when Gourmelin is vulnerable, derisive when Gourmelin is in the throes of metaphysical anxiety. For more information : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Topor

Bizarre, issue 23

Bizarre issue 23, pages devoted to Jean Gourmelin