The book "Le Petit Prince", written and illustrated by the French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery, is said to be second in number of translations published around the world, after the Bible. The Little Prince, with his golden hair and his long scarf, traveling in space from his small planet until he lands on Earth, is certainly present in the imagination of millions of adults and children. The first drawings showing the Little Prince were produced by Saint-Exupery when he was in the United States, where the English version of the book was first published.
The exhibition presents some of these drawings. They show several versions of what would finally become the visual definition of the Little Prince. Not surprisingly, Saint-Exupery drew many sketches of The Little Prince: he used to constantly draw on any piece of paper, on the margins of letters, on restaurant napkins, throwing away a great deal of his spontaneous sketches, giving to friends the ones he considered well achieved.
The selection of drawings shown in this exhibition was collected and presented in the book: Dessins, Aquarelles, pastels, plumes et crayons, published by Gallimard in 2006 for the 60th anniversary of the first Little Prince publication in France.
The exhibition is curated by Josette Balsa, art critic.
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