Jean-Michel Folon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jean-Michel Folon
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Jean-Michel Folon in 1990
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| Born | 1 March 1934 |
| Died | 20 October 2005 (aged 71) |
| Resting place | Monaco Cemetery |
| Occupation | Artist |
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Jean-Michel Folon (born March 1, 1934 – died October 20, 2005) was a talented Belgian artist. He was known for many things, including his illustrations, paintings, and sculptures. His art often featured a unique, dream-like style.
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Early Life and Education
Jean-Michel Folon was born in 1934 in Uccle, a town in Brussels, Belgium. When he was younger, he studied architecture at the Institut Saint-Luc.
Folon's Artistic Journey
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Folon's art career began with his first exhibition of watercolors in New York in 1969. Soon after, his work was shown in Tokyo and Milan. He also took part in important art events like the Venice Biennale.
In 1973, he won a major award, the Grand Prize in Painting, at the São Paulo Biennale in Brazil. This showed how much his unique style was appreciated around the world.
Exploring Different Art Forms
Folon was an artist who loved to try many different ways of creating art. He used various techniques, including:
- Watercolor painting
- Etching (a type of printmaking)
- Silkscreen printing
- Illustrations for books and newspapers
- Mosaics (pictures made from small pieces of colored material)
- Stained glass (colored glass used in windows)
Around 1988, he started making sculptures, first from wood. Later, he created sculptures using clay, plaster, bronze, and marble. He continued to paint while exploring these new forms.
Art for Good Causes
Folon also designed many posters, often for humanitarian causes. This means his art helped raise awareness or support for important social issues. He even became a UNICEF ambassador in 2004, using his art to help children around the world.
Famous Exhibitions and Projects
Many museums around the world have shown Folon's art. Some famous places include:
- The Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (1971)
- The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam (1976)
- The Musée Picasso in Antibes (1984)
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (1990)
- The Olympic Museum in Lausanne (1996)
In 2000, he opened the Fondation Folon. This special place in Belgium shows many of his important artworks. In 2001, the city of Lisbon held a big exhibition of his sculptures. He even designed the sets for an opera called La bohème in Italy in 2003.
Art in Everyday Life
Folon's art wasn't just in museums. He created designs for many everyday things:
- Murals for subway stations, like in Brussels and London.
- Posters for theater, opera, and movies, including Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo.
- Short films for TV shows.
- Logos for companies and events, like the 1992 Winter Paralympics.
- Tapestries and church windows.
- Even a flag for a famous horse race in Siena, Italy.
His unique "bird-man" character became a well-known symbol of his style.
Working with Others
Folon worked with Giorgio Soavi, who helped publish his first posters for Olivetti. Folon said that Soavi encouraged him to create new and unusual things. He even made a book called Lettres a Giorgio, which showed 40 original watercolor drawings on envelopes sent to Soavi.
In the 1990s, Folon decided to create his own foundation at the Solvay Castle in Belgium. Later, in 2011, a permanent exhibition of his work was set up in the beautiful Rose Garden in Florence, Italy.
Personal Life
Jean-Michel Folon moved to the outskirts of Paris in 1955. Later, in 1985, he settled in Monaco.
A friend, Milton Glaser, shared a funny story about Folon. Once, when they were going to Folon's house for dinner, Folon mentioned they would have rabbit. Glaser's wife said she couldn't eat rabbit because she had one as a pet. Folon thought for a moment and then said, "O.K., then we can have some nice cheese . . . unless you have a cheese at home." This shows his playful and thoughtful nature.
Death
Jean-Michel Folon passed away in Monaco on October 20, 2005. He was 71 years old. He was buried at the Monaco Cemetery.
Book Covers
Jean-Michel Folon illustrated the covers for many books, including:
- Gros-Câlin, by Romain Gary
- Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Le Buveur de temps, by Philippe Delerm
- Les philosophes et l'amour, by Aude Lancelin
