EXPOSITION L'ART DES SUPER-HEROS MARVEL
2014-03-22 - 2014-08-31 | Musée des arts ludiques – Quai d’Austerlitz, Quai d'austerlitz, Paris, France
The Art of the Marvel Superheroes

The Avengers, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, X-Men, Fantastic Four,Spider-Man, Silver Surfer…their names resonate like icons. Their costumes and emblems are universally recognized while their places in our imaginations and in the culture of our century are indispensable.
This exceptional exhibition presents a panorama of the Marvel universe, encompassing artworks from the original and historical comic strips to the concept drawings and illustrations made for the very latest cinema productions.
For the first time ever, visitors will discover and admire a spectacular retrospective of nearly 300 original Marvel drawings and publications that saw the birth of these mythical characters, signed by legendary artists that participated in their creation and evolution.
The exhibition features works by the one and only Jack Kirby, who with writer Joe Simon, developed Captain America, and later, with Stan Lee, the Fantastic Four, The Avengers, Thor, the Hulk and the X-Men.
Also on display are the incomparable style of Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-Man with Stan Lee, as well as original comic strips and illustrations of a number of Marvel artists, such as John Romita, John Buscema, Don Heck, Tim Sale, Alex Ross, Jim Steranko, Gene Colan, Frank Miller, Neal Adams, and French artists Aleksi Briclot and Olivier Coipel.
A focus on Marvel Studios, producers of film franchises such as The Avengers, Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, will take crowds through a contemporary art gateway of over 200 artworks created for the cinematic adaptation of Super Heroes to the big screen. Concept art, character and costume studies, storyboards or even car and accessories designs, will show admiring visitors the fabulous preproduction paintings for film productions, made by Marvel artists Adi Granov, Charlie Wen or the epic Ryan Meinerding.
We owe Ryan Meinerding, artistic director and concept designer of Marvel Studios films, the splendid painting studies for Captain America’s costumes, Iron Man’s various suits of armour, and of The Avengers team. He is also the creator of the painting made especially for the exhibition poster «Art of the Marvel Super Heroes».
The «Art of the Marvel Super Heroes» exhibition is significant in that it gives visitors access to real movie props and accessories, used during film shootings, displayed alongside their concept drawings. Available for admiration are Iron Man’s helmet, presented for the first time to the general public, Thor’s hammer, Iron Patriot’s armour, Captain America’s shield, or among others, Hydra’s motorbike.
The museum visit also includes videos* of commentaries by the legendary creator Stan Lee about the origin of his creations, his influences and inspirations, as well as commentaries by other artists such as Joann Sfar, Zep and Olivier Coipel.
The «Art of the Marvel Super Heroes» exhibition, imagined and designed by Art Ludique-Le Musée, is a world premiere. It pays tribute to these great artists who, just like their characters, have acquired a “super power”: the ability to draw masterpieces.

* These images are mostly taken from published extracts and unseen footage from the 2013 documentary Behind the Mask of Super Heroes, in anticipation of the exhibition «Art of the Marvel Super Heroes», an original idea by Jean-Jacques Launier, founder of Art Ludique-Le Musée and curator of the exhibition
