Evening On The Lagoon - Jean Michon - Oil On Panel Signed And Dated 1947

Evening on the lagoon - Jean Michon - Oil On Panel Signed and Dated 1947
Jean Michon (1926 - 1988)

Self-taught painter born in the Côtes du Nord, he was nourished from an early age by stories of distant lands brought back by parents who made careers in the colonies. His adolescence is haunted by the call of the horizon. After the years of Occupation spent in Paris, at the age of 21 he embarked on a boat bound for Australia. His destination is Tahiti. Forced to spend a few months in Nouméa, he arrived (in 1947?) in Papeete and quickly found a teaching job in Bora Bora. Dazzled by what he discovers, he begins to draw and paint to express everything he feels. He spent three years traveling across Polynesia, returned to mainland France then left for eleven years in Cameroon and three in Madagascar, returning to France before leaving for Wallis in 1970. After a few years in New Caledonia, he returned to Wallis to spend his retired but regularly returns to Nouméa to exhibit.
We present here a small oil on panel, undoubtedly among the first Polynesian paintings produced by Jean Michon.