Astérix à la BnF - Press release - Bibliothèque nationale de France

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François-Mitterrand
PRESS RELEASE
16 october 2013 - 19 january 2014
Astérix le Gaulois
dessins d’Albert Uderzo,
texte de René Goscinny,
planche 1 , planche originale, 1959
© 2013 Les Éditions Albert René/ Goscinny – Uderzo
BnF, Réserve des livres rares
Albert Uderzo et René Goscinny
en compagnie d’Astérix et Obélix,
photomontage, 1975
© 2013 Les Éditions Albert René/ Goscinny – Uderzo
© Dargaud
BnF, département Littérature et art
A. Uderzo et R. Goscinny
Asteriks wa-Kluubatra
trad. Djamal Chehaieb
Le Caire, Dar El Maaref, 2000
Collection particulière
photo Bertrand Huet
© 2013 Les Éditions Albert René/ Goscinny – Uderzo
Astérix à la BnF !
The BnF is dedicating a major exhibition to Astérix, the famous cartoon enjoyed for
over fifty years by fans large and small in 34 albums, soon to be 35, translated into
107 languages and dialects and with over 350 million copies sold throughout the
world. Covering gestation of the work, its world and its phenomenal reach and universality, this retrospective designed for all types of visitors offers a playful journey
to the sources, full immersion in the world of these indomitable Gauls and an analysis of the magic potion which has led to the incredible success of their adventures.
In March 2011, Albert Uderzo donated to the Bibliothèque nationale de France ( BnF) the
original plates from three Asterix albums: Astérix Le Gaulois, the first story in the series,
which was published in the comics magazine Pilote on October 29, 1959; La Serpe d’or,
the second episode; and, finally, Asterix chez les Belges, the twenty-fourth album, which
René Goscinny, who died on November 5, 1977, never saw published.
This exceptional donation makes up the heart of the exhibition, which provides a setting
for a comic approach to be constantly rediscovered, understood here as closely as possible to the creative process. Paying equal tribute to cartoonist Albert Uderzo and writer
René Goscinny, the exhibition re-creates the alchemy of their deep friendship.
The exhibition opens on the genesis of Astérix by following in parallel the childhood and
youth of the two authors, their shared creations and the launch of Pilote, for which they
began to search for a new character. « Our Ancestors the Gauls » was the final, and
obvious, choice.
The birth certificate of this new creation was the very first original drawing, which opens
a bubble that plunges the reader into the world of Asterix, while presenting a colorful
portrait gallery and a summary of the trips to discover other lands.
Original or printed plates, handwritten notes and typed storylines carry on a dialog with
archeological items which are the emblematic attributes of the series, recalling its historical anchoring as well as its inherent parody.
The third part of the exhibition measures the “Asterix phenomenon” through its national
and international impact, film adaptations, derivative toys and games, advertising use
and the creation of an amusement park.
Finally, the exhibition takes a moment to analyze this unequaled success by playfully
dissecting the uproarious humor conveyed by storylines, dialogs and drawings. It also
highlights the strength of the values incarnated by this epic parody. The pathway ends
with a foray into the intimacy of the authors at work, symbolizing the osmosis between
two geniuses of the ninth art, which is incarnated in the phrase: “I am the other.”
With the kind permission of Éditions Albert René.
Exhibition
Astérix à la BnF !
16 October 2013 I 19 january 2014
Grande Galerie - BnF I François-Mitterrand, Quai François-Mauriac, Paris XIIIe
From Tuesday to Saturday10 a.m. -7 p.m.
on Sundays 13 a.m.-7 p.m.
Closed on Mondays and public holidays
Admission: €7, concession: €5
FNAC booking number
tel: 0892 684 694 (0.34 euros TTC/mn), www.fnac.com
Organizer
Carine Picaud, curator, Rare Books Reserve, BnF
Publication
Astérix de A à Z
208 pages, 180 illustrations
prices : 35 euros
Coédition BnF / Hazan
Press contact
Claudine Hermabessière, Head of press office
+33 1 53 79 41 18 - +33 06 82 56 66 17
[email protected]
Hélène Crenon, press officer - +33 1 53 79 46 76
[email protected]
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Exposition organized with the support of Mappy