Michel Henry [California Poppies] Original silk screen print, signed by the artist [framed]

Limited to 250 copies. Image size: 43 x 35 cm. Frame size: 74 x 65 cm. Created in 2001.

Silkscreen printing was invented in the early 20th century. It is a screen printing technique in which color seeps through the mesh of silk or other materials and is transferred to paper or fabric. Areas where the color should not seep through are blocked off. The number of plates is equal to the number of colors used. It was used in the art field by American companies such as Warhol in the 1950s, and became popular as an art printing technique. By allowing a large amount of color to seep out, it is possible to create a thickness similar to that of oil paint, which creates a beautiful matière (the texture of paint applied with a brush, etc.), making it the perfect printing technique for Michel Henry.

Michel Henry is a painter who mainly paints flowers, and together with Buffet and Brasilier, he is one of the leading painters in the 20th century French art world. His paintings give off a sense of happiness, so he is called the painter of happiness in France, and the king of poppies in America, because he paints many poppies. His transparent colors are likened to jewels. Red is said to be the color of ruby, blue is the color of sawaire, green is the color of emerald, and deep brown is the color of topaz. Michel Henry's paintings are collected by the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, the Swedish royal family, the Principality of Monaco, the Saudi Arabian royal family, and others. Galerie Adeka has been the sole distributor of Michel Henry in Japan since 1995, planning Michel Henry exhibitions in famous department stores and galleries throughout Japan, producing original prints signed by the artist himself, selling painting prints, and managing copyrights.

This original silkscreen print is a compact tetralogy (A Beautiful Coquelicot, California Poppies, A Window in Venice, Pont Neuf and Notre Dame) that was produced in 2002 by our company (Galerie Adeka) in collaboration with the artist Michel Henry. Michel Henry signed the prints right in front of me. I remember being amazed at how quickly he signed them.

Work description:

This work was painted in pairs with <Beautiful Coquelicot>. <Beautiful Coquelicot> is painted with only yellow colors, while <California Poppies> is painted with yellow colors. The background is also decorated with yellow colors. Michel Henry must have understood the subtle differences and relationships between colors. Each petal seems to be alive. The yellow color gives a sense of vitality and power that red does not have. When you go to California, you can see yellow varieties of poppies everywhere. If <Beautiful Coquelicot> is the French version, these California Poppies can be said to be the American version. Coquelicot is French and poppy is English, but they have the same meaning. Michel Henry had a contract with the American Findlay Gallery, which had a store in the high-end gallery district of Paris from the 1970s to the 1990s, and went to the United States every year for 20 years to hold solo exhibitions. In the United States, his nickname is the <king of popee>.

Gallery Adeka Yasuhiro Takeda