Ce que je préfère de Taniguchi se sont ces histoires d'errance, ici pas de rues, pas de restaurants, il se promène dans le louvre, fiévreux, et se retrouve guidé par une des gardienne du lieu, a travers le temps, l'histoire du musée, dans les tableaux, il ira à la rencontre des peintres aussi, entre réalité et imagination, histoire et poésie.

This is a poignant story with beautiful artistry showing the connections between artists across time with the hearts of viewers regardless of distance and the transformative power of art to heal a soul. I learned about artists I've never heard of and got to enjoy a museum that I've long dreamed about but will likely never get to visit.

Ghosts in the Gallery
Review of the NBM Publishing hardcover edition (2016) translated by [a:Kumar Sivasubramanian|105291|Kumar Sivasubramanian|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] from the original Japanese [b:千年の翼、百年の夢|53527908|千年の翼、百年の夢 (ビッグコミックススペシャル)|谷口 ジロー|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1590624342l/53527908._SX50_.jpg|83861934] (Millennium Wings, Centennial Dreams) (2015*)

In Guardians of the Louvre a young Japanese manga artist is on a trip to Europe to attend a comics convention. After the convention he plans to spend time in the museums of Paris, but instead falls sick with a fever in his hotel room. Apparently recovered, (you begin to wonder if perhaps the rest of the book isn't a fever dream) he does go to The Louvre but discouraged by the crowds he wanders off alone. He then encounters a vision of the restored Winged Victory of Samothrace, who identifies herself as a Guardian of the Louvre. Communing with the Guardians allows the man to encounter various artists and personalities associated with the museum and its history. In the end he meets someone from his own past.


A sample page from Guardians of the Louvre. Image sourced from a review at Irenebrination.

On the whole the story here was not very dramatic, until we hear about the World War II project to save the Louvre's most precious works from Nazi looting and destruction. Previously the encounters with the spirits of artists such as Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875) and Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) were quite uneventful.

The artwork, as always with Taniguchi, is beautiful of course. The museum interiors though do not provide for quite the same expansive beauty as his city vistas in another late commissioned work [b:Venice|34679287|Venice|Jirō Taniguchi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1490436313l/34679287._SX50_.jpg|55852998] (2014).

The book, even in this English translation, is presented in Japanese manga format, so that you read the pages from back to front and the panels from right to left.

Trivia and Link
* As the book was a commission by the Louvre, the French language edition was actually published first as [b:Les Gardiens du Louvre|24093006|Les Gardiens du Louvre (Musée du Louvre #11)|Jirō Taniguchi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1419588233l/24093006._SX50_.jpg|43687284] (2014).

This graphic novel had lovely art, but the story was a bit too disjointed for me. True the character is pretty much suffering from fever dreams, so thats a bit to be expected, but still hard to follow along.

Intéressant et émouvant. Conseillé aux amoureux du Louvre et de l'art.

Three stars because while I appreciated learning about art and the graphic novel was beautifully drawn, the faint hints of plot were just distracting enough to take away some enjoyment from the aforementioned things.

More like 2.5 stars. I loved the artwork, but the story was pretty thin and not exactly original.