MIRALLES Lot n° 45

ANA MIRALLES DJINN Dargaud Incense smoke, original illustration made in 2018, published in Ana by Daniel Maghen editions in 2022. Signed. Watercolor and pencil on paper 40.2 × 32 cm (15.83 × 12.6 in.) For this loincloth with long leather straps encircling Jade's loins, Ana Miralles was inspired by the traditional clothing of Portuguese Guinea or Sudan. Africa, which the script of Djinn considered as a homogeneous whole in the manner of pre-war Tarzan, gave the comic strip artist free rein - especially when she was a watercolorist. She was free to associate this rudimentary loincloth with fantastic jewels and a long coat of fine fabric cascading like fresh water from Jade's shoulders to the ground. Here is perhaps one of the most human and serene representations of the djinn - at first sight: for her impassive gaze, her hands embracing her golden sceptre, suggest the best and the worst - like the embers of the incense burner, which can lead to the pyre of torment as much as to the blaze of embrace.