Henry Maurice

Abstract Composition - Lithograph by Henry Maurice - 1970s

1970s

Maurice Henry was a French poet and painter. He was also active as a filmmaker, art and film critic, photographer and humorous draftsman. He was in touch with a group of young poets and philosophers, with whom he founded the Grand Jeu movement. Henry collaborated with the magazines — Le Rouge et le Noir and Paris Montparnasse. He was in contact with Robert Desnos, André Robert Breton, Benjamin Péret, Louis Aragon and then Roger Vitrac and Jacques Prévert. From 1928, he collaborated with texts, poems and drawings to the magazine of the Grand Jeu movement and participated in the group's exhibition at the Galerie Bonaparte in Paris. He collaborated as an editor and reporter with various Parisian magazines, including Le Petit Journal, Cinemonde, Agence Haves, Revue du Cinéma, Pour Vous and Humanité. In 1932, he moved to the Surrealist movement, met Salvador Dalí and published poems and drawings on Le Surréalisme au Service de la Révolution. In 1939, he also began working as a filmmaker, destined to last over 16 years, during which he screened the screenplay of 20 films. In 1941, he held his first personal exhibition in Paris, at the Galerie La Peau de Chagrin. The presentation was by Jean Cocteau, the first buyer was Pablo Picasso. From 1944, he collaborated with Albert Camus on the magazine, Combat. In 1951, due to questions concerning the internal discipline of the group, he abandoned the Surrealist movement with others. From 1968, he devoted himself almost exclusively to painting and settled in Milan. In 1972, he edited the volume Graphic Antology of Surrealism for the Mazzotta Editions of Milan.