Le roi malgré lui

Roland Topor was one of the most surreal and versatile artists of the second half of the 20th century. He gained notoriety as one of the home cartoonists of the subversive French magazine Hara-Kiri (later Charlie-Hebdo). While his drawings were not as harsh or political as those of his colleagues, they were certainly disturbing and macabre. They are often surreal juxtapositions of people, animals, plants and objects. Topor seldom used words in his illustrations, leaving all power to the visual. Apart from being a cartoonist Topor was also an illustrator, novelist, actor, playwright, film and TV scriptwriter, singer-songwriter, animator and film director.