Philippe BERTHET L'art de mourir
Presentation
To mark the publication by Editions Dargaud of L'Art de mourir by Raule and Philippe Berthet, Alain Huberty and Marc Breyne are delighted to be showing the original plates from the album in the Espace rencontres at Huberty & Breyne Gallery in Brussels.
Philippe Martin is a Paris cop. He has been contacted by the police in Barcelona because a young woman has committed suicide and left a letter mentioning his name. When he arrives at the scene, Martin discovers that the girl could very well be his own daughter ! But has she really taken her own life ?
Spanish comics writer Raule's carefully crafted story is a dark - a very dark - contemporary thriller that sidesteps the clichés so often associated with the genre, and the illustrations for this sombre tale have given Philippe Berthet an opportunity to really go to town.
In every good thriller, the setting is crucial, says Berthet, and Raule has made the most of various landmarks in Barcelona while avoiding anything remotely holiday postcard.
He has also created an extensive gallery of characters which fit together wonderfully well. Equally comfortable with dialogue and action scenes, Berthet acknowledges something of a soft spot for Philippe Martin, a protagonist with a complicated past who feels like a real living person. The female characters in L'Art de mourir - Martin's ex-wife, his daughter's flatmate, the women policemen - are no less believable. And Phillipe Berthet knows just where to make the cuts, while his plates, in black and white, are spot on - uncannily so. Come and see for yourselves!
