On his return from a trip to Morocco in 1832, Delacroix brought back three albums whose pages are covered in texts and images. In Paris, in 1893, following his first voyage to Oceania, Paul Gauguin began to write Noa Noa to tell the story of Tahiti, its people, its culture and his experiences there, supported by drawings. Throughout his life, Picasso tirelessly covered the pages of sketchbooks, as demonstrated by the seven – no less! - which feature in the list of works in preparation for painting the Demoiselles d’Avignon (1906-1907).

Whether painters, sculptors, architects, designers, graphic novelists, or even photographers, film-makers, video directors, choreographers or whatever else, any creative professional usually carries a sketchbook with them to record, note, sketch or outline fleeting ideas which come to them. For fear they will disappear again. Out of impatience to talk about them or give them shape. To see them for the first time, instantly correct them and make them grow. For whatever reason.

At the very source of the creative act, the sketchbook proves to be the ideal place for all investigations and all experiences. It is a real laboratory and the experiments carried out there are a closely guarded secret. Like a private diary. And nothing is so exciting as being allowed access. But above all nothing is as instructive, which is why artists often agree to reveal their contents. They realise to what extent this can help an intelligent understanding of their approach.

For all these reasons, it seemed appropriate to us, as part of an event like the Contemporary Drawing Fair, to gather together a number of these artists’ sketchbooks from every possible discipline. A way for them to tell us the story of their creativity, from the first moment it seeded itself in their minds. So, «Story of sketchbooks».