Chagall in Russia. Joann Sfar.

Editorial 451 (2011).

128 pages in color. (Colour: Brigitte Findakly)

Joann Sfar is one of the most important French creators of recent decades, a fertile and inspiring creator for many readers. I will not lie to you: I have discovered the French author with the comic book Chagall in Russia, why do they also call this book a graphic novel?

The simple strokes of the undefined drawings, the vivid colors of Brigitte Findakly and the hilarious calligraphy led me to choose between the comic books of the library – fortunately more and more can be found – this one by Joann Sfar. At first glance, at least, he had something special that made him different from the readings of recent times. This did not necessarily mean that I was better or that I read it with delight. However, that has been the case. The comic book has exceeded expectations and put me in an attractive position to be able to follow the steps of the French artist more closely.

Located in Russia after the Revolution of 1917, Sfar returns to the figure of the Jewish painter Marc Chagall (Vitebsk, Belarus, 1887-Saint Paul de Vence, France, 1985), rather than his artistic work. Chagall is a surreal painter who has a surreal comic in his hands. The funambulist Jesus Christ, able to walk through a river of depths to the knees, the socialist violinist who lives in dreams, the butcher who cuts the helmets to the horses, the Cossacks who only know how to kill men and rape women, the prostitutes who dress in angels... The comic reflects a harsh reality, but it gives off a certain joy, a peculiar musicality that increases with the colors of Brigitte Findakly. All the frames of the cells or images are the same, the same, but the story holds so much perplexity, that that uniformity falls upside down on almost every page.

The painter Chagall and the comic creator Sfar come together in the book: the way they draw, the use of colors, the Jewish iconography... and, above all, the beautiful surrealism that both artists direct.