(b Namur, Belgium, 24 May 1899; d Paris, 19 Oct 1980). French draughtsman, painter and poet of Belgian birth. From 1911 to 1914 he studied at a Jesuit school in Brussels. In 1919 he started and then abandoned the study of medicine and the following year worked as a seaman. Returning to Brussels in 1921, he started writing in earnest in 1922, soon becoming known in literary circles. He went to Paris in 1924; here he was struck by the paintings of Klee, Max Ernst and de Chirico at a Surrealist exhibition. He started to paint in 1925 and until 1927 worked in a variety of media: India ink, watercolour and oils. The Alphabet series in ink, for example Alphabet (1925; Paris, Paulhan priv. col., see 1978 exh. cat., p. 10), was based on a series of personal ideograms, and in oils he painted the series of Blot works. From 1927 to 1937 he travelled extensively abroad, visiting South America, Turkey, China and India; this experience was a powerful influence on his later work.

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