HISTORY PAGES
FROM THE UNITED STATES BACK TO EUROPE
The first exhibition of Folon ’ s
watercolours was in New York in 1969 in the Lefebre Gallery . And in the same year we see his work titled « Man by the calm sea at night » already appearing on the cover of The New Yorker magazine . Folon also illustrated great books , for example , by Franz Kafka , Boris Vian , Ray Bradbury , Guy de Maupassant , Albert Camus and H . G . Wells , among others . One year later he exhibited in Tokyo and soon galleries in his native Europe , in Milan and Venice , clamoured to give limelight to one of their own — the II Milione gallery in Milan and the XXVth Venice Biennale , for example . And in 1973 his native Belgium also embraced him by including him among the Belgian artists participating in the XIIth São Paulo Biennale , where he was granted the Grand Prize in Painting .
Over the years his work concentrated on different techniques not just watercolour — including etching , silkscreen , illustrations , mosaics , and stained glass , which showed the diversity of his art . That initial spark in the US which ignited recognition was just the start of an artistic journey that would see him living in Paris and whose final destination would be Monaco in 1983 — where he would stay and work for close on twenty years .
PARADISE IN MONACO
Many great artists had been attracted by the light of the Riviera and it was in Monaco where the multi-talented Folon found a home and a shared pulse . The Principality was an oasis for someone as eclectic and international as Jean-Michel who took a clear and poetic look at humanity and left a universe of work focused on the fundamental values of man and his place in the environment .
A humanist and a UNICEF ambassador , he also put his artistic talent to work creating
JEAN-MICHEL FOLON HAS LEFT AN EXTRAORDINARY ECLECTIC LEGACY IN THE HISTORY OF ART . posters in the service of great causes which are dear to Monaco including numerous poster campaigns for UNICEF , Greenpeace and Amnesty International .
While continuing his paintings , the Principality also stimulated the sculptor in him . Around 1988 , on the advice of César , Folon created his first sculptures made out of wood . He then moved on to creating sculptures in clay , plaster , bronze and marble .
He forged numerous bonds of friendship in the Principality thanks to which one can discover today his works all over the Principality : the stained glass windows of the Monte-Carlo Bay , the mosaics of the Chapel of the Carmelite Fathers , « La Fontaine Aux Oiseaux » in the gardens of the Ministry of State and others .
Jean-Michel Folon respected craftsmen and indeed was one himself . One of the last major projects of his life was the careful restoration of an old wooden
Jean-Michel Folon in his studio in Monaco .
Jean-Michel Folon . La Croix-Rouge Monégasque , n . d . Offset print based on a watercolour .
yacht , which he named « Over the Rainbow » as he used to draw a rainbow very often too .
© Fondation Folon / ADAGP , Paris , 2020
© Fondation Folon / ADAGP , Paris , 2020
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