Jean-Michel Folon

Who was Jean-Michel Folon?

Jean-Michel Folon was a Belgian artist, illustrator, painter, and sculptor. Folon was born in Uccle, Brussels, Belgium in 1934 where he studied architecture at the Institut Saint-Luc. In 1955 he settled in a gardener’s house in the outskirts of Paris. Over a period of five years he drew morning, noon and night. In 1985 he moved to Monaco where he worked in a large workshop surrounded by numerous artists. In the 1990s, Folon decided to create a foundation in the Solvay Domain, La Hulpe.

The first exhibition of his watercolors was in New York in 1969 in the Lefebre Gallery. One year later he exhibited in Tokyo and in the Il Milione gallery in Milan. He also participated in the XXVth Venice Biennale. In 1973 he joined the selection of Belgian artists in the XXVth São Paulo Biennale, where he was granted the Grand Prize in Painting. Over the years his work concentrated on different techniques, including watercolor, etching, silkscreen, illustrations, mosaics, and stained glass, which showed the diversity of his art. His work Ein Baum stirbt - Un albero muore, 1974, is by Museo Cantonale d’Arte of Lugano. He also designed numerous posters, often for humanitarian causes.