L'éléphant jaune 1970

This 1970 mixed media and felt drawing by Yvon Taillandier perfectly illustrates the artist’s playful and imaginative universe.

In L’éléphant jaune, Taillandier builds a dense, narrative composition populated with stylized figures, animals, and symbolic scenes arranged around the central motif of the elephant. The work combines drawing and handwritten text, inviting the viewer to read and explore the image as both a visual and literary experience.

A key figure of Figuration Narrative, Taillandier developed a highly personal language that blends naïve art, humor, and social observation. His works often resemble illustrated stories or dreamlike chronicles, filled with recurring characters and imaginative transformations.

Beyond his artistic practice, Taillandier was also an influential art critic and writer, actively supporting contemporary figurative artists during a period dominated by abstraction. His concept of “Taillandierland”—a fictional universe populated by his characters—runs throughout his work, offering a poetic and sometimes satirical vision of the world.

Through works like L’éléphant jaune, Taillandier demonstrates his unique ability to merge drawing, text, and storytelling into a vibrant and accessible form of artistic expression that continues to resonate today.

Felt

Free figuration - India

Hand signed by the artist

Good condition, small tears on the edges