Henri Michaux (; 24 May 1899 – 19 October 1984) was a Belgian-born French poet, writer and painter. Michaux is renowned for his strange, highly original poetry and prose, and also for his art: the Paris Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York had major shows of his work in 1978 (see below, Visual Arts). His texts chronicling his

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

experiments with

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

and mescaline, which include ''Miserable Miracle'' and ''The Major Ordeals of the Mind and the Countless Minor Ones'', are well known. So are his idiosyncratic

travelogues Travelogue may refer to: Genres * Travel literature, a record of the experiences of an author travelling * Travel documentary A travel documentary is a documentary film, television program, or online series that describes travel in general or t ...

and books of

art criticism Art criticism is the discussion or evaluation of visual art. Art critics usually criticize art in the context of aesthetics or the theory of beauty. A goal of art criticism is the pursuit of a rational basis for art appreciation but it is quest ...

. Michaux is also known for his stories about Plume – "a peaceful man" – perhaps the most unenterprising hero in the history of literature, and his many misfortunes. In 1955 he became a citizen of France, and he lived the rest of his life there. He became a friend of Romanian pessimist philosopher and French citizen

Emil Cioran Emil Mihai Cioran (, ; 8 April 1911 – 20 June 1995) was a Romanian philosopher, aphorist and essayist, who published works in both Romanian and French. His work has been noted for its pervasive philosophical pessimism, style, and aphorisms. H ...

around the same time. In 1965 he won the

grand prix national des Lettres The grand prix national des Lettres was created in 1950 by the French Ministry of Culture to recognize writers who have contributed to the influence of French literature. It has not been awarded since 1999. List of laureates * 1951: Émile Char ...

, which he refused to accept, as he did every honor he was accorded in his life.

Biography

Travels

In 1930 and 1931, Michaux visited Japan, China and India. The result of this trip was the book ''A Barbarian in Asia''. Asian culture became one of his biggest influences. The philosophy of Buddhism and calligraphy later became principal subjects of many of his poems and inspired many of his drawings. He also visited

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

and published a travelogue book of the same name.
His travels across the Americas finished in Brazil in 1939, and he stayed there for two years.

Visual arts

Michaux was a highly original visual artist, associated with the

Tachiste __NOTOC__ Tachisme (alternative spelling: Tachism, derived from the French word ''tache'', stain) is a French style of abstract painting popular in the 1940s and 1950s. The term is said to have been first used with regards to the movement in 19 ...

movement in the 1940s and 50s. His work often makes use of dense, suggestively gestural strokes that incorporates elements of calligraphy,

asemic writing Asemic may refer to: * Asemia Asemia is the term for the medical condition of being unable to understand or express any signs or symbols. It is a more severe condition than aphasia, which is the inability to understand linguistic signs. Asemia i ...

, and

abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...

. The

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in Paris and the

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: Locations Americas * The Solomon R. Guggenhei ...

in New York both had major shows of his work in 1978.

Works

* ''Voyage en Grande Garabagne'' oyage in Great Garabagne(1936) * ''Au Pays de la Magie''

n the Land of Magic N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

(1941) * ''Ici, Poddema'' ere, Poddema(1946)

Bibliography

* Ball, David (ed.)
''Darkness Moves: An Henri Michaux Anthology 1927–1984''
Translated, Selected and Presented by David Ball. University of California Press, 1994. * Bäckström, Per. ''Enhet i mångfalden. Henri Michaux och det groteska'' (Unity in the Plenitude. Henri Michaux and the Grotesque), Lund: Ellerström, 2005. * Bäckström, Per. ''Le Grotesque dans l’œuvre d’Henri Michaux. Qui cache son fou, meurt sans voix'', Paris: L’Harmattan, 2007. * Bowie, Malcolm. ''Henri Michaux: A Study of his Literary Works''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973. * C L Campos, "Michaux, Henri" in Anthony Thorlby (ed).

The Penguin Companion to Literature ''The Penguin Companion to Literature'' is a reference work published in four volumes by Penguin Books. Volume 1 was edited by David Daiches and deals with British and Commonwealth literature. It has been called the most useful recent work of its ...

. Penguin Books. 1969. Volume 2 (European Literature). Page 534. * Conoley, Gillian (translator). ''Thousand Times Broken: Three Books''.

City Lights ''City Lights'' is a 1931 American silent romantic comedy film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. The story follows the misadventures of Chaplin's Tramp as he falls in love with a blind girl (Virginia Cherrill) and ...

, 2014. * Ellmann, Richard (translator). ''Selected writings: The space within''. New York: New Directions, 1968. * Landes Levi, Louise (translator). ''Vers La Completude''. Le Tirlemont, Amsterdam 1983. * Landes-Levi, Louise. ''Toward Totality: Selected Works, 1929–1973''. Shivastan, 2006. * Landes-Levi, Louise. ''Yantra – As insert to Tantra Song''. Siglio, 2011. * Müller-Yao, Marguerite Hui. ''Der Einfluß der Kunst der chinesischen Kalligraphie auf die westliche informelle Malerei'', Diss. Bonn, Köln 1985. * Müller-Yao, Marguerite. "Informelle Malerei und chinesische Kalligrafie", in: ''Informel, Begegnung und Wandel''. (hrsg von Heinz Althöfer, Schriftenreihe des Museums am Ostwall; Bd. 2), Dortmund 2002. . * Sieburth, Richard (translator). ''A Certain Plume''. New York Review Books, 2018. * Wedewer, Rolf. ''Die Malerei des Informel. Weltverlust und Ich-Behauptung'',

Deutscher Kunstverlag The Deutscher Kunstverlag (DKV) is an educational publishing house with offices in Berlin and Munich. The publisher specializes in books about art, cultural history, architecture, and historic preservation. History Deutscher Kunstverlag was fo ...

, München, 2007. .

References

External links

*
Reelyredd's Poetry Pages
French text of Michaux poem "Ma Vie" with English translation
Major paintings of Henri Michaux
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michaux, Henri Art Informel and Tachisme painters 1899 births 1984 deaths Belgian painters Belgian poets in French French fantasy writers Modern painters People from Namur (city) Belgian emigrants to France Naturalized citizens of France French male poets 20th-century French poets 20th-century French male writers