Jean-Michel Folon
Draughtsman, painter, engraver, sculptor : surely the word diverse comes to mind when thinking of the artist Folon. He has illustrated the works of several major authors including Kafka, H.G. Wells, Prévert, Vian, and Borges. He learned how to ‘shed light’ by mastering the art of making stained glass windows and has created several murals, including one in the Brussels metro station at Montgomery Square.
As a genuine humanist, he has created several posters for humanitarian causes. In 1988 he received the commission to illustrate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was published in the UN’s six official languages and which featured a preface by Javier Pérez de Cuéllar. In 2003 he was appointed UNICEF ambassador.
The galleries and museums of the world have opened their doors to this well-known and widely recognized artist : New York for the first time in 1969, followed by the prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1990, Milan, the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris, Rotterdam’s Boymans van Beuningen Museum, London’s Institute of Contemporary Art, the Musée Picasso in Antibes, the Correr Museum in Venice and other prominent locations including Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Kyoto, Barcelona, Lausanne….
In 2000, he inaugurated the Folon Foundation, which presents an overview of his work in a location that was quite dear to Folon during his childhood.
In 2001 a vast exhibition of his sculpture work was presented in Lisbon, while Florence constituted the backdrop for a superb retrospective in 2005, which garnered huge success.
Jean-Michel Folon died in Monaco on 20 October 2005.
In 2007 São Paulo devoted a major exhibition to Folon´s pictorial work.
Jean-Michel Folon’s view of humanity was lucid and poetic. His legacy is a universe based on the fundamental values of human beings and their environment.