The 2018 French Open: Creating beautiful poster art through capturing the simple bounce of a tennis ball

Roland Garros and modern art have enjoyed a long, steady and tasteful relationship. It's a very French thing. In a sport where a player's instinct and spontaneous movement creates beautiful art out of work during every rally – especially on a terre battue canvas – the annual French Open poster is seen as a colorful and fascinating part of the Roland Garros experience. 

Each year since 1980, the grounds at Roland Garros in the 16th arrondissement of Paris have displayed bright and imaginative posters that truly embody the spirit and excitement of the French Open. After all, if tennis is seen as art – and why not? – then, its athletes are truly artists who have traded paint brushes for tennis rackets.

In an earlier era, Les Quatre Mousquetaires (Jacques Brugnon, Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet and René Lacoste) were prestigious French tennis players who dominated the sport in the second half of the 1920s and early '30s and were known for their dashing grace and athleticism. They became national icons in France – their success in winning the 1927 Davis Cup against the United States helped lead to the building of the Roland Garros venue at Porte d'Auteuil – and the French Open men's championship trophy was named the Coupe des Mousquetaires in honor of the quartet. 

Today, one need only think of World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, the undisputed king of clay, whose Picasso-like artistry as he glides across Court Philippe Chatrier – brushing his racquet against a tennis ball – is truly a bold and dynamic thing to admire. He's won 10 French Open singles titles, most of any athlete – male or female – which has endeared him to the French and tennis fans worldwide.

The quintessential Björn Borg's hair
as captured by Eduardo Arroyo in 1981.

Among the artists who have created French Open poster art since its inception are: Eduardo Arroyo, whose 1981 Pop Art image of Björn Borg's hair captured a quintessential quality of 1980s tennis; Joan Miró, one the most prominent influences on the development of both Surrealism and 20th-century art, who created the 1991 poster; documentary filmmaker and painter Jean-Michel Meurice, whose 1996 poster was inspired by the red clay and white lines of the Roland Garros courts; jazz drummer and composer Daniel Humair, who conveyed a musical rhythm to capture the pulse of the French Open in his 2004 poster; and Du Zhenjun, who in 2015 became the first Chinese artist selected to design a French Open poster. His training in traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy is reflected in his work.

Jazz drummer and composer Daniel Humair
conveyed a musical rhythm to capture
the pulse of the French Open in 2004.

For this year's French Open, Paris-born Fabienne Verdier was commissioned to create the poster for the 2018 tournament, which begins Sunday. Born in 1962, Verdier is the fourth woman selected to design the official Roland Garros poster, following in the footsteps of Jane Hammond (2003), Kate Shepherd (2007) and Nalini Malani (2010). She's also the first French artist, too. 

"For me, Roland Garros evokes those first warm days that herald the arrival of summer in Paris, when the intense light of May and June makes the ochre day sparkle," said Verdier, in an interview recently posted on French Open website rolandgarros.com. "As the sun races across the sky, the courts turn from amber to tobacco, from saffron to sepia, from ochre to red, from sienna to brown. During every rally, the balls collect this multicolored dust and, like comets, leave enchanting lines of energy in their wake."

In creating the 2018 French Open poster, Verdier chose to focus on the simple bounce of a tennis ball. In a split-second moment, she perfectly captures "that moment of truth in which the ball, after hitting the clay, sets off on one of many possible trajectories. The ball's movement gives off incredible energy."

Verdier describes her abstract impression this way: "I tried to portray the lightning speed of the player's movements. The energy that they transmit to the ball in a movement full of spontaneity, vitality, power, precision and slide. And I imagined one of those unexpected bounces that take the opponent by surprise and force them, in the following rally, to surpass themselves once again in order to get one step closer to victory in Paris."

To view the entire collection of French Open art posters: www.rolandgarros.com
Fabienne Verdier video courtesy of YouTube.com
French Open poster art courtesy of www.rolandgarros.com

Reflections of a Happy Halloween

Chelsea Market, New York City, 2006 /
Still one of my favorite Halloween pumpkins.

As a kid, there are some things you look forward to each year like Halloween. 

Last Thursday, over the course of two hours, the kids -- white, black, Asian, Hispanic -- were out in great numbers in our Oakland neighborhood, a microcosm of the city at large, full of enthusiasm and dressed in wonderful and creative -- even traditional -- costumes. 

Dressing up as a ghost or witch is still quite popular as well as going trick-or-treating decked out as a super hero like Batman, Spiderman or Superman. Darth Vader and Harry Potter still garner a lot of attention, thanks to their movie-star appeal, and both remain among my favorites. As a kid, I remember dressing up as an astronaut one year back when kids wanted to grow up to be astronauts and fly to the moon. 

This year, we were surprised when a girl and a boy, both about 11 or 12-years-old, came to our door, together, dressed as a carton of milk and a jar of pickles. Maybe, they were influenced just a little bit by Trader Joe's, one of our local grocery stores? I don't remember if the boy's label said soy, low fat or skim, but any of them would have been appropriate by Bay Area standards. Of course, it's always cute to see little kids dress up as lovely and cuddly tigers and dinosaurs, too. Whether homemade or store bought, imaginative costumes are what make Halloween a special occasion.

Lots of parental chaperones were present on this pleasant, autumn Halloween evening -- some in costume -- and we saw a few toting their pet dogs (a few in costume -- think "hot dog") and baby strollers for the littlest ones, too. Some kids were timid and shy, especially the youngest ones -- being coached by their parents, who were standing at the bottom step of our porch, to say "trick or treat", then "thank you" -- while others were very eager and outgoing. A group of five middle school-aged girls shouted out "trick or treat!" in unison as they came giggling up our walkway for all to hear loud and clear.

Halloween has definitely turned into a family event -- a sporting event, maybe? -- and this year, handing out 200 mini chocolate bar candies, as we did, was not enough! Credit the weather, which was nice and dry, and the San Francisco Giants for not being in the World Series like they were in 2010 when Halloween coincided with Game 4 against the Texas Rangers -- and the result is our neighborhood was quite lively with trick or treaters, more so than in most years. We could have easily given out 50 more candies.

As it turned out, we had about two dozen See's peppermint candies in reserve that we used as a fall back after our chocolate candies ran out, and when those candies were all doled out and there were still a handful of eager kids shouting "trick or treat" at our front door, we dragged out our piggy bank and gave out handfuls of nickels and dimes, determined not to leave anyone disappointed. And, surprisingly, the kids who received pocket change were just as happy and content with their "treat" as those who earlier in the evening received a Kit Kat, Twix or Milky Way candy bar.

Once the crowds had thinned, we turned out the lights, shut the front door, and took a walk through our neighborhood so we could admire Halloween decorations and absorb the evening's festive atmosphere, which included a lively and vocal pirate-themed house down the block from us that drew lots of curious attention. 

Finally, almost back to our front door, we were invited in by our neighbors across the cul-de-sac for a glass of Napa Valley red wine, a dessert of tasty baklava from a local Mediterranean bakery and good conversation about Halloweens past when our neighbor's children (one, who's now a college-aged freshman, and the other is a freshman in high school) used to dress up in the most creative and colorful costumes and go out trick or treating.

Looking back on this festive evening, less than a week after it all unfolded, left me in a happy, reflective mood. Indeed, it was a happy Halloween -- one of the most enjoyable evenings of the year -- and I look forward to the next one.