It is during an excursion on the Bossons glacier that GRATALOUP will slide into a small crevasse, while he was taking pictures of the glacier. He will be saved by a couple of English tourists who heard his cries for help.

From this frightening experience will be born a series of self-portraits where we can see the artist trapped in the ice. His features are quite identifiable in the graphics of the drawing. On some canvases – including the Blue and Gold Self-Portrait – the hope of rescue is symbolized by the ray of light, while others, such as Towards a Chained Self-Portrait show it, resigned to its destiny.

These self-portraits will be exhibited in 1990 at the Galerie Jacqueline Moussion (Paris).

I was very afraid that I would not be able to get out of this mini-crevasse and that night would come. It was panicking. I had nothing to hold back. I had my camera that had stayed outside the crevasse. The scariest thing is that you feel like you’re going to make it, but you can’t. Everything slides.