The great French character Fantomas, an archetypal villain and master of disguise from the cliffhanger serials by Feuillade, was the object of fascination by a number of avant-garde artists and writers in the early part of the 20th Century. The original pre-WWI films, along with the director's Judex and Les Vampires, established the template for future cinematic diabolical masterminds and espionage/crime thrillers. Fantomas was resurrected a number of times over the decades, through literature, film, and comics. Spy Vibers may best remember the character from the trilogy of French crime comedies in the 1960s starring Jean Marais. Artist Rene Magritte often drew on images of the character in his work, which I find to be a fascinating connection. My friend, cartoonist Richard Sala, put this first image on my radar (see below). I love how the the piece celebrates and plays with the costume design of the mysterious figure in black. You can just about hear an evil laugh worthy of John Phillip Law's Diabolik. Also below are a few additional Magritte/Fantomas images that pay homage to film scenes and the original novel cover design. It's notable that Fantomas holds a flower in his hand in the artist's rendition, rather than a dagger. Magritte infused the villain with a sense of poetry? Enjoy! Haven't see the original films? Kino Lorber has remastered Feuillade's Fantomas on Blu-ray (as well as Les Vampires). Highly recommended! Related Spy Vibe posts: Fantomas Design, Flying Citroen DS, Fantomas comics 1, Fantomas comics 2, Fantomas Kindle Collection, Diabolikal Villain Archive, Fantomas Blu-ray, Prada Villains, Catsuits, Les Vampires Blu-ray, Fantomas Kindle, Les Vampires, Macabre Mystery Week, Richard Sala.
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The great French character Fantomas- an archetypal villain and master of disguise from the cliffhanger serials by Feuillade- was the object of fascination by a number of avant-garde artists and writers in the early part of the 20th Century. The original pre-WWI films, along with the director's Judex and Les Vampires, established the template for future cinematic diabolical masterminds and espionage/crime thrillers. Fantomas was resurrected a number of times over the decades, through literature, film, and comics. Spy Vibers may best remember the character from the trilogy of French crime comedies in the 1960s starring Jean Marais. Artist Rene Magritte often drew on images of the character in his work, which I find to be a fascinating connection. My friend, cartoonist Richard Sala, put this image on my radar today (see below). I love how the the piece celebrates and plays with the costume design of the mysterious figure in black. You can just about hear an evil laugh worthy of John Phillip Law's Diabolik. Also below are a few additional Magritte/Fantomas images that pay homage to film scenes and the original novel cover design: Enjoy! Related Spy Vibe posts: Fantomas Design, Flying Citroen DS, Fantomas comics 1, Fantomas comics 2, Fantomas Kindle Collection, Diabolikal Villain Archive, Fantomas Blu-ray, Prada Villains, Catsuits, Les Vampires Blu-ray, Fantomas Kindle, Les Vampires, Macabre Mystery Week, Richard Sala.
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Artist, Rene Magritte, might be best remembered for his surreal portrait of the bowler hat and apple, but he was also a terrific Fantomas fan. He was so enthralled by the character and Feuillade's films, in fact, that he even wrote some fiction about the arch-criminial! This text was published in March, 1928: "A THEATRICAL EVENT. Juve has been on the trail of Fantomas for quite some time. He crawls along the broken cobblestones of a mysterious passage. To guide himself he gropes along the walls with his fingers. Suddenly, a whiff of hot air hits him in the face. He comes nearer...His eyes adjust to the darkness. Juve distinguishes a door with loose boards a few feet in front of him. He undoes his overcoat in order to wrap it around his left arm, and gets his revolver ready. As soon as he has cleared the door, Juve realizes that his precautions were unnecessary: Fantômas is close by, sleeping deeply. In a matter of seconds Juve has tied up the sleeper. Fantômas continues to dream — of his disguises, perhaps, as usual. Juve, in the highest of spirits, pronounces some regrettable words. They cause the prisoner to start. He wakes up, and once awake, Fantômas is no longer Juve's captive. Juve has failed again this time. One means remains for him to achieve his end: Juve will have to get into one of Fantômas's dreams — he will try to take part as one of its characters. (Translation by Suzi Gablik, from Magritte. Boston: New York Graphic Society 1976)."
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Magritte devoted a number of paintings to Fantomas, the most famous being The Backfire (1943), a recreation of the Fantomas book jacket and movie poster art (see below). Note how the artist exchanged the original knife that Fantomas holds with a flower. More about Magritte and Fantomas at the Matteson Art site.
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