Remembering Eric Joisel

THE LOSS OF AN ARTIST

With the death of Eric Joisel, the French artist featured in Between the Folds, comes an immense and, in many ways, indescribable sense of loss. Messages of sadness were emailed, tweeted and posted from all corners of the world. There remains a collective sense of sorrow, from friends, acquaintances and strangers alike. Eric was at the height of his career.

"I wish I could fold my grief as you folded paper, for then it would be beautiful," said one Twitterer. "Such a profound loss. I'm grieving," shared another. "He was too beautiful for this world," wrote a Facebook user.

In their grief, people took to folding paper themselves. Portraits of Eric—one from Vietnam, another from Australia. Scores of renderings of his easier pieces. Even a delicate butterfly was created in his honor.

It pains me deeply to think of what more Eric would have done in the years ahead—thoughts that won't be had, things that won't be made, creations we'll never get to see. It seems that when an artist dies, we lose a bit of ourselves. A bit of our collective identity. A bit of our cultural treasure. And, yes, grief follows.

The comforting converse to this, of course, is the gift artists so generously endow us with: objects, ideas, and a few seeds of inspiration to hopefully spring eternal.

I'm proud of Eric beyond words. For, from a simple worktable in a farmhouse outside Paris—armed with fantastic imagination and a mere stack of paper—Eric gave the world a most glorious gift.

—Vanessa Gould

Notes: Australian Eric by Steven Casey. Vietnamese Eric by Nguyen Hung Cuong. Joisel Papillon (Butterfly) by Michael LaFosse and Richard Alexander.

This obituary for Joisel appeared in the New York Times. See a complete gallery of Eric's work on his website.

November 15, 1956 — October 10, 2010

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Remembering the Wonderful Eric Joisel Five new interview outtakes with Eric in his home studio. See a full exhibit of Eric's work on the PBS website.
	THE LOSS OF AN ARTIST With the death of Eric Joisel, the French artist featured in Between the Folds, comes an immense and, in many ways, indescribable sense of loss. Messages of sadness were emailed, tweeted and posted from all corners of the world. There remains a collective sense of sorrow, from friends, acquaintances and strangers alike. Eric was at the height of his career. "I wish I could fold my grief as you folded paper, for then it would be beautiful," said one Twitterer. "Such a profound loss. I'm grieving," shared another. "He was too beautiful for this world," wrote a Facebook user. In their grief, people took to folding paper themselves. Portraits of Eric—one from Vietnam, another from Australia. Scores of renderings of his easier pieces. Even a delicate butterfly was created in his honor. It pains me deeply to think of what more Eric would have done in the years ahead—thoughts that won't be had, things that won't be made, creations we'll never get to see. It seems that when an artist dies, we lose a bit of ourselves. A bit of our collective identity. A bit of our cultural treasure. And, yes, grief follows. The comforting converse to this, of course, is the gift artists so generously endow us with: objects, ideas, and a few seeds of inspiration to hopefully spring eternal. I'm proud of Eric beyond words. For, from a simple worktable in a farmhouse outside Paris—armed with fantastic imagination and a mere stack of paper—Eric gave the world a most glorious gift. —Vanessa Gould Notes: Australian Eric by Steven Casey. Vietnamese Eric by Nguyen Hung Cuong. Joisel Papillon (Butterfly) by Michael LaFosse and Richard Alexander. This obituary for Joisel appeared in the New York Times. See a complete gallery of Eric's work on his website. November 15, 1956 — October 10, 2010 Back to home page

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