GIBRAT Lot n° 11

JEAN-PIERRE GIBRAT MATTÉO, Futuropolis Tribute to Norman Rockwell, original illustration created in 2023. Signed. Watercolor and acrylic inks on paper 45.7 × 51.6 cm (17.99 × 20.31 in.) Please note! For a taste of Jean-Pierre Gibrat's work, refer to Norman Rockwell's painting Breaking Home Ties, to which the French artist pays a superb and unexpected tribute here. The theme of Rockwell's painting? A redneck father, a little worn and despondent, resignedly awaits the arrival of the train that will take his son to college. The son, all puffed up with enthusiasm at the idea of his new life, sports a magnificent white suit. He sits next to his father on the running board of the family jalopy. A dog, a red cloth and a kerosene lamp complete the decor... All these elements are present, and the poses of the two protagonists are respected in the cartoonist's homage. "I've replaced the father with Mattéo, and given him a rifle," comments Jean-Pierre Gibrat. "The son becomes Amélie...". Breaking Home Ties is one of Rockwell's most celebrated works. In 2006, the painting sold at Sotheby's for $15.4 million. Apart from its nod to a master, the first quality of this homage is that it doesn't deviate one millimeter from the murderous, confused universe from which it springs.