Michel-Henry Artwork Description
Michel-Henry Oil and Watercolor Paintings
This is a collection of explanations of Michel Henry's oil paintings by Yasuhiro Takeda of Galerie Adekat. Galerie Adekat was the exclusive agent for Michel Henry in Japan from 1995 to 2016. After Michel Henry's death in 2016, Galerie Adekat has continued to sell Michel Henry's paintings. It is also an appraisal institution for Michel Henry's paintings.
Michel Henry, "Red Symphony," oil on canvas, 50-size
Work Commentary
I have looked at paintings from the Renaissance to the School of Paris, but I have never seen a painter who could create such a beautifully glowing work by layering red upon red.
Michel Henry studied under two professors at the École des Beaux-Arts (National Higher School of Fine Arts in Paris). His preliminary course was with Narbonne, and his main course was with Chapelin-Midi. Narbonne was a drawing professor, and Chapelin-Midi was a master of color. In Narbonne's class, Buffet was also a student, but he dropped out without studying color and continued to draw with simplified sketches throughout his life.
Chapelin-Midi, seeing Michel Henry succeed in painting with bright colors based on red, said that Michel Henry had surpassed him. In traditional color theory, red is categorized as a dark color, but Michel Henry painted bright, glowing pictures based on red. He layered red upon red, creating a beautiful harmony of colors and depicting beautiful forms. He achieved a great feat that no one since the Renaissance had accomplished. Michel Henry uses 30 different types of red-based paints from various nationalities. Red was a fated color for Michel Henry, a color that made his innate talent shine.
Yasuhiro Takeda, Galerie Adekat
Michel Henry, "Transparent Red," oil on canvas, 100x100cm
<Work exhibited at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts at the Carrousel du Louvre>
Exposee au salon de la societe nationale des beaux-arts au carrousel du Louvre>
A red background completely covers the canvas. On top of this red, beautiful red flowers are painted with rich impasto. The clearly emerging, irregular impasto of the flowers resonates, creating a beautiful harmony. A beautiful, large triangle is formed by connecting the top flower in the center of the canvas to the edges of the glasses on both sides, extending to the bottom corners of the canvas. The red of the background emits light, as if illuminated from behind. With perfect painterly qualities in composition, color, light, and impasto, this work induces a dizzying sensation, as if one is being drawn into the red canvas.
Yasuhiro Takeda, Galerie Adekat
Michel Henry, "Bouquet Panaché," oil on canvas, 10-size
I don't think this painting needs any explanation. It is simply overflowing with universal beauty. It's a bouquet painted with a magnificent combination of red-toned colors, a symphony of vibrant hues. The title "Bouquet Panaché" means a mixed bouquet, or a bouquet made by combining various flowers. "Panaché" is French for "mixed," and a drink popular with French people, a mixture of beer and soda, is also called panaché. It depicts a bouquet arranged with pink and violet petals and white gypsophila. The main petals are red poppies, but the other flowers cannot be identified by their petals, though the slender leaves suggest they might be irises. The colors are unified in the red family, with the green of the leaves and stems providing an accent. In terms of the color wheel, it's painted with variations centered on red, from orange close to yellow, to pink and violet close to blue. The background is depicted with translucent pink and milky white on diagonal intersecting lines. Light enters from behind the background, making the bouquet stand out three-dimensionally. The light seems to come from the back left, with the left half being milky white and the right half having a deeper pink. The canvas fully captures the light, and the three-dimensional petals' harmony of colors creates a pleasant, dizzying impact on the eyes and brain. It can be said to be a masterpiece of bouquets.
Yasuhiro Takeda, Galerie Adekat
Michel Henry, "Eiffel Tower and Poppies," oil on canvas, 25-size
Work Commentary
Michel Henry never stopped his imagination-driven challenges until the very end. This painting, created at the beginning of 2015, is a work from his last years. The form of the Eiffel Tower in the background is simplified and depicted like a transparent veil or a white phantom. To the left of the Eiffel Tower, black branches and leaves hang down from above. Behind these black branches and leaves and the translucent Eiffel Tower, intensely red, petal-like objects are painted. These continuous red objects appear to be the petals of poppies, which Michel Henry loved throughout his life, scattered in the air. The dance of poppy petals covering the sky is truly fitting for Michel Henry's life. These poppy petals are filtered through the transparent veil of the Eiffel Tower, appearing thinly translucent. They can also be glimpsed through the black branches and leaves. Though they have lost their petal shape, they appear to me as poppy petals. In the foreground, as always, a bouquet of red poppies is vividly painted. White is placed on the petals of the upper part of the bouquet, resonating with the translucent Eiffel Tower in the background. Beneath the poppy bouquet, several red fruits, presumably apples or plums, are depicted. Michel Henry always placed several fruits below the bouquet to balance the composition when painting bouquets. Numerous such fruits are continuously depicted. This painting, which can be called a semi-abstract work depicting poppies, the fruits that were their partners, and Paris in the background—all things the painter continued to depict throughout his life—is a moving work worthy of being his final piece, symbolizing all the paintings Michel Henry created. From this painting, I can hear the adieu—A Dieu—and the song of joy from Michel Henry, the painter of flowers and happiness. It is a symphony of exploding joy.
Yasuhiro Takeda, Galerie Adekat
Michel Henry, "Pont des Invalides," oil on canvas, 50-size, created in 2013
It is rare for Michel Henry to paint a bouquet with an assortment of multiple flowers like this. Michel Henry usually depicts a single type of flower, contrasting the bouquet with a landscape to celebrate its beauty. However, in this painting, the bouquet features wild roses, poppies (coquelicot), and baby's breath, with multiple petals in various warm colors, painted on and even inside a transparent compote, where their colors resonate with each other. Rather than the flowers being arranged in a compote, they give a sense of movement, as if they are radiating into the air. Around the transparent compote, warm-toned fruits are depicted, echoing the colors of the petals, and integrating with the colors of the petals inside the compote. Beyond the bouquet, the surface of the Seine River is depicted. The water surface is dark in the foreground and becomes a brighter blue further away, reflecting the color of the sky. Beyond that is a bridge. This bridge, by all appearances, is not the Pont des Invalides mentioned in the title, but the Pont Alexandre III, which is next to the Pont des Invalides. The Pont Alexandre III is characterized by having bridge piers only on both banks, with no supporting piers in the middle of the river, and the bridge is supported solely by the arching structure between the two banks. Additionally, tall golden sculptures adorn the two pairs of pillars on the balustrades of both banks. The title "Pont des Invalides" likely comes from the view seen from the Pont des Invalides. The bouquet is also probably imagined to be placed on the balustrade of the Pont des Invalides. The Seine River and the Pont Alexandre III are depicted emerging in the twilight, the brief period when the sun begins to rise and moves from darkness to a world filled with light, just before it appears on the ground. Even in the dim light, the vibrant colors of the petals stand out. Here lies the drama of light in the few minutes just before dawn breaks.
Yasuhiro Takeda, Galerie Adekat
Michel Henry, "Three Roses," oil on canvas, 12-size
Work Commentary
Michel Henry's colors have the brilliance of jewels. Christian Dior knew this. Around 1990, Christian Dior commissioned Gianfranco Ferré, who was their creative director, to apply jewel colors to mink fur. Ferré chose Michel Henry as his research partner. The two secluded themselves in a laboratory for three months, experimenting with dyeing mink fur with the red of rubies, the blue of sapphires, the green of emeralds, and the amber of topazes. Although they succeeded in producing prototype mink coats, the production cost was enormous, and Christian Dior abandoned the release. The prototypes were reportedly bought by wealthy Arabs. The background of these three roses is a deep topaz color. Blue and transparent light leak through the gaps in the lattice pattern of the background. Topaz ranges from light amber to dark brown, with some stones reflecting light as amber. In the play of light where light leaks from the topaz-colored background, reflects off the crystal vase, and passes through it, filtering the light dyed brown, the three roses seem to be smiling cheerfully.
Yasuhiro Takeda, Galerie Adekat
Michel Henry, "Roses of Palm Springs," oil on canvas, 40-size, 2021
Work Commentary
Palm Springs is a resort city about 150 kilometers east of Los Angeles. Michel Henry used to visit the Findlay Galleries in America every year for 20 years during his time with them. Findlay Galleries had its main store in New York, and at one point also had branches in Paris, London, and Long Beach. In the late 1990s, Michel Henry had a contract with Alexander Leodzooz Gallery, which had its main store in Cannes and a branch in Paris. When Alexander Leodzooz Gallery opened an exhibition in Los Angeles at the end of the 20th century, they invited Michel Henry to hold a Michel Henry exhibition. That year, after finishing an exhibition at a department store in Tokyo, Michel Henry went directly to Los Angeles. Palm Springs is a basin, and there are apparently some small mountains and fairly high mountains with snow even in summer. Michel Henry must have visited there for sightseeing during his work. Parent and child roses stand cheerfully in the vast American nature.
Yasuhiro Takeda, Galerie Adekat
Michel Henry, "Blue Shadow," oil on canvas, 12-size
Work Commentary
Against a blue background, pale pink wild roses and plums are depicted in a crystal container. The blue of the background shines like a jewel illuminated from behind. Gianfranco Ferré, of the Italian brand, served as the creative director for Christian Dior in France from 1989 to 1996. At that time, Christian Dior sought to sell mink fur dyed with jewel colors. Parisians knew that Michel Henry's colors possessed transparency and brilliance. Michel Henry's blue is sapphire, red is ruby, green is emerald, and golden is topaz. Christian Dior invited Michel Henry and confined Gianfranco Ferré and Michel Henry to a laboratory for three months. They succeeded in dyeing mink fur with magnificent ruby red, sapphire blue, emerald green, and topaz gold, but because they used very expensive dyes, there was no prospect of selling them. The prototype mink coat was reportedly bought by a wealthy Arab. This work depicts the radiance of sapphire in the background, and the transparent crystal container also reflects the sapphire blue. The wild roses and translucent gypsophila in the crystal vase, and the plums in the crystal compote, are adorned with elegant colors of pale rose and wine, making for a calm and dignified painting. It is a work of graceful radiance with sapphire blue, fully capturing the light.
Yasuhiro Takeda, Galerie Adekat
Michel Henry, "Eiffel Tower and Mirabeau Bridge," oil on canvas, 40-size
【Work Commentary】
In 2007, a Japanese-French artists' exhibition was held in Yokohama, and Patrice de la Parrière, president of Univers des Arts, came from France. This is a commemorative work exhibited at that time. The poppies and cherries in the foreground form a strong triangular composition, and the Seine River in the distance narrows as it is depicted with linear perspective. The vertical composition of the poppies and cherries and the horizontal composition of the Seine River create a sense of three-dimensional space. The faint blue of the background and the red of the poppies, which stand out three-dimensionally, beautifully contrast. The blue and pale rose-colored sky and water bring gentle joy. It is likely early summer, towards the end of the day, when Parisians are relaxing in the long summer evening.
Yasuhiro Takeda, Galerie Adekat