There are artists that you think of when you think of drawing, Pat Steir, Jasper Johns, Jim Dine (I’m still blown away by the “Tool” drawings of the seventies) Jack Kirby (for some) and I’ll throw in an extra one, Daniel Rebour.
Daniel Rebour was a French illustrator. He is best known for drawing bicycles and bike parts. His drawings were published in cycling magazines and catalogs, to my knowledge he never showed in a gallery
However his drawings are extraordinary. His line and detail are unmatched by anything I’ve ever seen – they are also iconic. Rebour’s drawings are the flashpoint of the image of the cycling boom of the early seventies and to this day, they evoke a memory of an earlier and to my eyes, a more human version of bicycle culture.
When I view Rebour’s work I equate the new technological present with a loss of humanity that the early days of cycling held and showed so well. The artist in me views Rebour’s work with envy of his amazing technical and natural skill as well as sadness knowing that artwork like this just isn’t made nor considered relevant anymore.
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. – H.G. Wells