«In picture after picture Folon tells the story of the little man, bewildered by our modern world. Anonymous in the crowd, a kind of robot in man’s disguise, so indistinct that he might be anybody, or to be more specific, either you and I. (…) Folon’s little man, enmeshed in all his arrows, is trying to find his way in an implacable universe; he stands there lonely yet undismayed, wearing an unimaginative hat. Maybe he is lost and bewildered, but somewhere beyond the labyrinth and the ramparts of the impersonal city there is always some unexpected ray of hope. In his way, Folon is a prophet. He reminds man that his vocation is t spiritualize the world. He says it gently, with a touch of malice, to hide his intelligence; gravely, with a smile that might serve to hold back tears. His humour is neither anecdotal nor accidental; it pervades the very substance of his shapes and lines. His sketches need no comment. His work is neither comical nor burlesque, it expresses the artist’s attitude to life, a way of understanding and appreciating it, a way in which man can master his fate. Folon’s humour is a liberation.» (22)
139