My thanks to Europe Comics for a digital edition via NetGalley of ‘The Muse’ with script by Zidrou and art by Oriol in exchange for an honest review. It was originally published in French as ‘Still Lives’ and translated by Matt Madden.

This graphic novel tells the story of an ageing Catalan painter, who while working in his Barcelona studio in 1939 shares with his model the mystery of his best friend Vidal Balaguer, “the forgotten genius” of Catalan Modernism, who vanished on the eve of 1900.

Vidal’s story links to another disappearance a few months earlier of his muse and lover, Mar, the subject of his most famous painting, “Young Lady in a Mantón." A police detective is convinced that Balaguer had murdered his model but things are not that straightforward.

I was fascinated to learn that Vidal Balaguer was indeed a painter and it appears that Oriol Hernandez is passionate about bringing him and his work to a wider audience. This is a fictional biography and I did wonder if Vidal had existed or not.

However, the original page for the graphic novel reads:

“Still lives: the imaginary biography of a forgotten genius of Catalan painting by Zidrou and Oriol A prodigy of Catatan modernism, his name has not spanned centuries or even borders. Zidrou and Oriol resuscitate him for an album. Back to the Vidal Balaguer mystery…

Do not search the internet for hours, you will not find anything if it is not a Wikipedia page created by Dargaud editions. We learn that the man was born in 1873 in Barcelona, ​​studied Fine Arts at La Llotja, maintained tumultuous relationships with his mistresses before finally disappearing in 1899.” (Translated from French)

The art in this graphic novel was excellent and was very much in the style of the period. It concludes with a short article by Roser Domenech, a professor of art history at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, about Balaguer’s life and work. It includes an extract from his 1897 notebook that explains something of his personality: “Painting is a part of me. The thought of being exhibited, sold, owned like an object plunges me into bottomless sorrow. No one deserves to be dispossessed of his own self.”

Domenech is part of a project seeking to recover Balaguer’s paintings and to bring the artist back from oblivion. I do feel that in creating this work Zidrou and Oriol have contributed in their own way to this project.

I appreciate Europe Comics publishing this graphic novel as it not only is an imaginative story, with excellent artwork but also educational.

I really liked this, especially the ending.

I also don't understand the ending with the loan shark guy but I'm sure its because I'm not in Paris. Anyways this story is about a disappearance of a muse. Then later on the painter of this muse that disappears also then disappears himself. I feel like this graphic novel would be a great fairy tale to tell children or at least it has that feel.

A fascinating graphic novel which explores the disappearance of the artist Vidal Balaguer, known as "the forgotten genius" of Catalan Modernism, who vanished on the eve of 1900.

There are many questions about Balaguer and his disappearance and whether he murdered his muse and lover, Mar. In this story Zidrou explores a possible answer to the mystery. Zidrou always produces thoughtful and beautifully illustrated graphic novels and the art work in this one conveys the haunting nature of the story. It is beautifully illustrated and beautifully told.

Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for and unbiased review.

This was better than I expected. The story is showing us the last days of the life of Vidal Balaguer. And it is very, very interesting. The artwork is amazing! I really fell in love with that. Though the quality of the material given to me was not the best, so I believe the original one will be even more beautiful.

A lovely little beautiful story that doesn't really say... anything. Nothing about art, or debt, or love. Shame, really.

I would like to thank you for your book.. I am sorry, this is not the read that I really enjoy but I would say it may appeal to other reader. The art was different but nice. The woman...the muse is in your face...but I believe that is what a muse is suppose to be. Thank you again!

I really enjoyed this graphic novel, The Muse. I liked the story and the art in it. I wish there was a physical copy I could pick up and own.

I wasn't sure where this story was going to go. I don't know a lot about art, so I was kind of lost in the beginning. I really liked the turn the story took, I thought it was really quite unique. A little bit of magic to explain some unexplainable things. I really liked it.
Thank you #netgalley for my copy of The Muse

In December of 1939 artist Joaquim Mir reminisces about his good friend Vidal Balaguer, an incredibly gifted artist who mysteriously disappeared forty years prior at the turn of the century. This fictionalized imagining uses factual information to build a story with decidedly Twilight Zone-esque sensibilities.

An interesting story with enough of an avant garde flavor to be slightly off kilter, mildly disconcerting (in a good way).The art is such that you don't notice it except when it's portraying the artist renditions/paintings of their work.

I liked it. It takes a moment to get into what's happening and there are one or two places that seem to suffer from translation issues... Once you get past that initial bump it's easy to disappear into the flow of the story.

***Thanks to NetGalley, Europe Comics, Zidrou and Oriol for providing me with a free digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

The Muse gives a supernatural spin to the story of Vidal Balaguer - a nearly forgotten artist of the 19th/20th century. The Muse tries to show the last days of his documented life and suggest what could have happened.

Vidal fell in love with one of his models, but she disappeared without a trace after he's finished her painting. He's broken, emotionally and financially. For unknown reasons, he doesn't agree to sell his best paintings. To make matters worse, Police thinks he can be responsible for stealing a corpse and, perhaps, murdering his model.

While the story isn't exactly groundbreaking it offers good pacing, solid plotting, and spectacular art. On the whole, it's a beautifully illustrated mystery story I'll reread just for the pleasure of admiring Oriol's panels.

ARC through NetGalley

The art work was beautiful, story was something i was not excepting and very interesting. Good short read.

Translated to English with a few seams, The Muse chronicles the life of late 19th century Spanish painter, Vidal Balageur. Filled with stunning illustrations and interwoven with the well-known painters and styles of the time.

A mature European comic translated. Following the the speculative history of an late 19th century artists named Vidal Balaguer. I loved the legend interwoven in this graphic novel, and found the story interesting. Mature themes and beautiful illustrations with a touch of art history and legend, this was a unique graphic novel. A few spots were spotty with the translation, but forgivable. The e-book version I received from net galley left the text a bit blurry, but hopefully this is fixed in the printed edition. Very interesting read and I liked how at the end there is a short bio explaining the true life scenarios explaining the inspiration of this depiction of Vidal's life.

I don't know much about art, which means as soon as this ended I had to google where or not Vidal was an actual artist or if this was entirely fiction.
Does it matter though?
The story is simple and yet it captures the imagination. The art in the story captures a sort of sensuousness that is magical and I loved every moment of it. You can almost believe that an artist painted away things that he loved, and that he existed and refused to sell his art even when he was to be ruined because it literally had his subjects.

I did not care to finish it, I stopped at page 27. It's just not my cup of tea, I don't mind nudity in the cover, but there was a lot in the book and it was a bit too much and somewhat unnecessary.

Wonderful art style and a pretty sold story (didn't really care for the "missing woman fuelling a guy's man-pain but nobody cares about HER" aspect). I really liked the finale but, in the end, I'm confused about what it was trying to say. It doesn't delve deep into art or love, the two subjects I'm pretty sure it's about. Was it just a biography for Vidal, just spruced up for modern audiences? Maybe it wasn't even trying to say anything and I'm trying to read too much into it. Either way, 3 stars, because it was enjoyable while I was reading it but it didn't make much of an impact.

This comic's about the magic of art and more specifically about the relationship between the artist and his work; Oriol's color drawing convincingly evokes the time of modernity, the place of awakening of new styles and the moment of creation.

Faithful to the artist Vidal Balaguer and his short working life and featuring the colour palette of his paintings. Zideou : Oriol have produced a story with a sense of fun and mystery to introduce the reader through this comic book format to am under appreciated artist. The artwork is cleverly recreated and a story has been spun to make it a tale that will appeal to all and not just the artistic set.
Hanging the story on the role of the special artist model - the muse, we have a way in and a focus throughout in this graphic novel. That has disappearance at its heart and a crime mystery to perhaps solve.
It is a gentle introduction into the world of the artist’s studio and attempts to bring the work of Vidal Balaguer to a wider audience.
A perfect format to share in a fun and entertaining way what drives a struggling and talented painter. As most Europe Comics achieve to expanded my knowledge and brought me an interesting read.

A very different art style to what I have seen before, very vibrant and real, but I found the story difficult to become immersed in.