The 9th art

La Musée de Bande Desinée in Angôuleme, one time building for storing cognac.  The date on the chimney reads 1857

It is only a 50 minute drive from Ribérac to Angôuleme travelling northwards, so there is no excuse not to visit the recently opened Musée de la Bande Desinée, a museum of strip cartoons. My father was a Fleet Street cartoonist so I suppose I have a natural affiliation with this art form. 

Before one arrives at the museum it is evident that Angôuleme takes its role as guardian of what is known in France as the '9th art' seriously.  When one walks the streets that nestle close to the ramparts one can observe numerous wall paintings in various styles.  The blue street name plaques appear in the form of a cartoon speech bubble.  One wonders what happened to all the original classic enamel signs that were taken down.  There must have been a hell of a lot and the likelihood was that they were tossed into a skip or suffered some other awful fate.

 

As far as I can see all the streets signs in Angôuleme follow this 'speech bubble' design

Artwork adorning a wall up in the high town of Angôuleme, not mindless grafitti but art

The museum, officially designated a "musée de France" was opened in June 2009 in recognition of the '9th art' in what was once a chai, or cognac storage warehouse alongside the Charente river.  Its status puts it alongside the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles in cultural importance and it is obvious that a great deal of money has been invested here.  Yesterday under blue skies and brilliant sunshine young French families were out making the most of a lovely day, rollerblading, scooting and cycling in the beautifully landscaped grounds that surround the museum.

Once inside you enter comic strip heaven.  If you have any leaning towards this art form or just love drawing then this is the place to be.  Curving structures set at waist height lead you around a curving display of all the permanent works.  It takes you in a chronological order starting with the earliest strips from about 1885.  These seemed to be mostly German, Belgian or French.  It seems the Americans took up the idea just before the First War and the rest, of course is history with the likes of Marvel comics, Popeye, Superman, Lil Abner by Al Capp and the rest.

Some things never change.  Cartoon dated 1897 depicting American President William McKinley a supporter of the gold standard.  He was assasintated in 1901

A First Edition Tintin by Hergé dated 1934

 

This one printed by Casterman in 1937.  Note the reference to 'Tintin Reporter'.  The later editions dropped the word 'reporter' from the title

The Japanese Manga cult is well represented, with a whole wall dedicated to the art and its history.  This art form is often based on some mythology with a message attached using the dialogue images and symbols.  I think you have to work relatively hard at the genre before fully understanding it.  In many ways it is a contradiciton to what young kids now take from video games and the like.  They still enjoy their Manga but have to exercise themselves to a higher degree.  It is not soundbite entertainment.

 

Shall I translate?

Manga comic from the Thirties

I found this last image interesting, a cartoon that fronted the magazine 'L'Hebdo hara-kiri' from 1969.  I wonder what the current statistics are?

No caption required

The Bande Desinée Annual International Festival (festival internationale de la bande dessinée) is about to come to town.  From the 27-30 January 2011 Angôuleme will host its annual acknowledgement to all things comic strip.  You can find out what's in store by clicking on the following link http://www.bdangouleme.com/programmation-2011/5/27/toute-la-journee/0