Virgilius Maro (Title Page) [right] 1955

This is Jacques Villon’s "Virgilius Maro (Title Page) [right]". I'm looking at the hatched lines of pink, blue, and green, crisscrossing the surface. It’s like he's building up the figures with colored threads. I can almost hear the scratching sound of the pen moving back and forth, back and forth... I imagine Villon hunched over this drawing, maybe with a cigarette dangling from his lips, intensely focused. Did he make mistakes? Did he change his mind? I like to imagine the artist building up the image gradually, allowing it to emerge from the network of colored marks. Look how the colors overlap, creating new hues and shadows. It's a bit like cubism, breaking down the image into planes and angles, but with a playful, colorful touch. It reminds me a little of Léger. Artists look at each other’s work, you know, there is a conversation going on between them all the time! For me, it's not just an illustration, it's a record of a way of seeing and thinking. The way that Villon has used hatching is a way of understanding the world.