Grégoire Michonze (1902-1982) (variant name
Grégoire Michonznic) was a Russian-French painter, born in 1902 in
KishinevChişinău , is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc. The city is the most economically prosperous locality in Moldova, and its largest transportation hub...
(
BessarabiaBessarabia is a historical term for the geographic entity in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west...
), Russia (now Republic of Moldova.
From 1919-1922, Michonze studied at a local art academy where, painting
Russian icons-General history:The use and making of icons entered Kievan Rus' following its conversion to Orthodox Christianity in 988 A.D. As a general rule, these icons strictly followed models and formulas hallowed by Byzantine art, led from the capital in Constantinople...
, he learned to master the technique of painting with egg tempera. He continued his studies at the Academy of Painting in Bucharest and befriended the artist
Victor BraunerVictor Brauner was a Romanian Jewish painter, the brother of Harry Brauner ....
.
Grégoire Michonze (1902-1982) (variant name
Grégoire Michonznic) was a Russian-French painter, born in 1902 in
KishinevChişinău , is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc. The city is the most economically prosperous locality in Moldova, and its largest transportation hub...
(
BessarabiaBessarabia is a historical term for the geographic entity in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west...
), Russia (now Republic of Moldova.
From 1919-1922, Michonze studied at a local art academy where, painting
Russian icons-General history:The use and making of icons entered Kievan Rus' following its conversion to Orthodox Christianity in 988 A.D. As a general rule, these icons strictly followed models and formulas hallowed by Byzantine art, led from the capital in Constantinople...
, he learned to master the technique of painting with egg tempera. He continued his studies at the Academy of Painting in Bucharest and befriended the artist
Victor BraunerVictor Brauner was a Romanian Jewish painter, the brother of Harry Brauner ....
. In 1922, Michonze moved to Paris and met
Max ErnstMax Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst is considered to be one of the primary pioneers of the Dada movement and Surrealism.-Early life:...
who later introduced him to the Surrealists, notably
André BretonAndré Breton was a French writer, poet, and surrealist theorist, and is best known as the principal founder of Surrealism...
,
Paul ÉluardPaul Éluard was the pen name of Eugène Émile Paul Grindel , a French poet who was one of the founders of the surrealist movement.-Biography:...
,
Yves TanguyRaymond Georges Yves Tanguy , known as Yves Tanguy was a surrealist painter.-Biography:Tanguy was born in Paris, France, the son of a retired navy captain. His parents were both of Breton origin...
and
André MassonAndré-Aimé-René Masson was a French artist.-Biography:Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, near Senlis in Picardy, but was brought up in Belgium. He studied art in Brussels and Paris. He fought for France in World War I and was seriously injured.Masson's early works display an interest in cubism...
. He furthered his art studies by taking classes at the
École des Beaux-ArtsÉcole des Beaux-Arts ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement...
. During this period, Michonze met and developed a strong friendship with the Jewish École de Paris artist
Chaim SoutineChaïm Soutine was a Jewish, expressionist painter from Belarus. He has been interpreted as both a forerunner of Abstract Expressionism and as a proponent of painting in the European tradition exemplified by the works of Rembrandt, Chardin, and Courbet.-Biography:Soutine was born in Smilavichy near...
. Between the period 1934-1936, Michonze exhibited at the Salon des Surindépendants. He described his work at these exhibitions as "Surreal naturalism". Michonze fought in the war and, after 1943, settled into a studio on Paris's Rue de Seine. He took up French citizenship in 1947, and in 1949, the French Fund for Modern Art acquired his now seminal canvas
La moisson (
The Harvest).
From 1954-1977, Michonze continued and perfected his life's work. He had extended stays in the United States where he spent time with his close friend, the American author
Henry MillerHenry Valentine Miller was an American novelist and painter. He was known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of 'novel' that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association, and mysticism, one that is...
. Michonze also travelled frequently to
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
where he exhibited, visited with his mother, and re-acquainted himself with his Jewish roots. He died of a heart attack in his studio at rue de Seine in Paris on December 29, 1982.
Michonze is primarily known as a landscape and figurative artist. A marked majority of his paintings include depictions of groups of people - families, villagers, peasants, children - and most works evince an allegory or narrative of some kind. Each work is imbued with mystery, a sort of hidden dialogue that enhances the appeal of the work and piques the viewer's curiosity. In a 1959 letter to the British
art criticAn art critic is a person who specializes in evaluating art. Their written critiques, or reviews, are published in newspapers, magazines, books and on web sites...
Peter Stone, Michonze wrote of his work: "My subjects have no subject. They exist only for a poetic end. If the poetry is there, the canvas is complete. No histories. Only pure poetry, preferably untitled."
Selected exhibitions
- 1997: Galerie Francis Barlier, Paris
- 1985: Musée d'art moderne, Troyes (major retrospective)
- 1974: Givon Gallery, Tel-Aviv
- 1947: Mayor Gallery, London
- 1946: Arcade Gallery, London
- 1934: Salon des Surindépendants, Paris
External links