The Art of Moebius (1989)
Byron Preiss/Berkley Books/Epic Comics
21 x 27cm, 96 pages
Bearing the familiar image of Starwatcher II that first featured on the cover of Moebius: Starwatcher released a few years earlier but this time however on the cover of The Art of Moebius the image is instead framed in a pastel lavender.
The Art of Moebius trade paperback opens with an introduction by filmmaker George Lucas who is best known for his original Star Wars trilogy:
“In all his drawings, Moebius, demonstrates a command of many disciplines in art. He is a master draftsman, a superb artist, and more: his vision is original and strong. Since first seeing the Moebius illustrations in “Heavy Metal” years ago, I have been impressed and affected by his keen and unusual sense of design, and the distinctive way in which he depicts the fantastic. Perhaps what strikes me most of all about his work is it’s sheer beauty – a beauty that has always given me great pleasure.”
Some of the work featured in The Art of Moebius appeared previously in his art book Moebius: Starwatcher but not featured are the preparatory sketches and line work behind some of Moebius’ wide ranging work including for his aforementioned Starwatcher series of serigraphs. Also of interest is work by Moebius done for film projects such as Little Nemo in Slumberland (1989) based on Winsor McCay’s groundbreaking comic strip of the same name.
Worthy of mention and found within the final pages of The Art of Moebius is the inclusion of work from Moebius’ rare notebook Roma-Amor or Viamor (1988).
Moebius on how Roma-Amor /Viamor came to be:
“I went to Italy for a month, to Naples and Rome, and one day, I was walking through the streets, when I saw an artisan making little notebooks, with nice paper and nice covers. So I bought one. At the time, I thought I would give it to somebody as a present, but I should have known better. I can never resist a notebook. So I began filling it with drawings. I drew in every kind of situation: in the train, in the plane, waiting for friends, waiting for a car, in coffee shops, in the street, in bed, at the hotel. Everywhere. I tried to do these drawings without any kind of preconceived ideas, just following my inspiration. I emptied my mind and let the drawing emerge. If there is a repetition of characters and themes, which there is, it is because it is like a psychic map of my spiritual landscape at the time. ”
