Herni Michaux

HENRI MICHAUX (Namur, Belgium, 1899 - Paris, 1984).
Untitled.
Lithograph on paper. Copy 2/40.
Signed and justified in pencil.
Measurements: 42 x 32,5 cm.
Henri Michaux develops in this work a visual universe deeply linked to the exploration of gesture, sign and automatism. The composition, articulated by means of abstract forms that evoke an imaginary writing or ancient oriental characters, unfolds as an enigmatic language located between painting and calligraphy.
Settled in Paris since 1923, he came into contact with the surrealist milieu and began to publish texts that already revealed a deeply introspective and experimental universe. From the 1930s onwards, his trips to Asia and especially China inspired works such as Un barbare en Asie, where he combined cultural observation and poetic reflection. At the same time, he began to develop an intense plastic activity, producing drawings and paintings characterized by signs, graphics and forms close to an invented writing, located between abstraction and automatism. Michaux's work constantly evolved through technical and emotional experimentation. After the death of his wife in 1948, his production acquired a more expressionist and visionary tone. In the 1950s he progressively abandoned gouache to focus on ink, and between 1956 and 1960 he investigated the effects of mescaline and other hallucinogens on perception, an experience that decisively influenced his visual and literary language.