Cruising Through the Louvre

An artist’s unique take on the museum experience: peoplewatching
 
Author and artist David Prudhomme meanders through the Louvre, feeling as if in the panels of a giant comic while he himself is creating his own is this graphic novel. In this institution, all manner of people from all over the world rub elbows quietly. So Prudhomme decides to cruise through the museum, not to look at the world famous art, but to observe the people and their interaction with it. As he wanders, he discovers a group of students somehow stuck together just as in the shipwreck on the Raft of the Medusa; a man standing behind the Seated Scribe, as if attempting to read over his shoulder; and in the hall of antiquities, a woman placing her head in a lion’s mouth. This work presents readers a strange, silent, and casual choreography, danced in the midst of one of the most prestigious museums in the world.

“A gorgeous, playful artwork in and of itself about art, creating art, order, and randomness.” —Ariel Balter, NY Journal of Books

"Celebrates the experience of the Louvre itself. With its intimate eye on the human act of appreciating art, this book revels in the Louvre as a shared adventure that complements and illuminates its famous art." —Publishers Weekly

"An irreverent, giddy contemplation of the ways we seek inspiration, the places we go to find it, and what it means to interact with art in the twenty-first century." —Annie Bostrom, Booklist

"An inventive offering. A leisurely, illustrated stroll through the Louvre by someone who’s seen the art before and realizes that there’s much more to be found." —Peter Dabbene, Foreword Reviews

David Prudhomme is a graphic novelist, educated at the comics atelier of the École de l'Image in Angoulême. He is the author of Rebetiko.