BIOGRAPHY
Early Years
1934: born in Vierzon in the Loire valley
1950: developed a passion for drawing and began to paint, strongly inspired by Vincent van Gogh
1951: École des Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Arts) in Angers
1952: moved to Paris, École des Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Arts)
1956: created theater sets and stained glass windows.
Attracted by the painting of Georges Mathieu, he visited him and left disappointed
1957: painted a series of dark paintings of which he only keeps a portrait and destroys the others
1960: influenced by abstraction, he quickly evolves towards a style of dreamlike 'green characters'
He met surrealist artist André Breton and in the following years played an active part in the activities of the Surrealist Group, collaborating in the review La Brèche. Close to Jorge Camacho, Agustin Cardenas, José Pierre, and even more to Jacques Le Maréchal, he pursued a solitary path, devoting himself entirely to painting and engraving.
1966: inspired by the French engraver Rodolphe Bresdin, Milet-Desfougères turned to engraving as his main artistic medium
1980-1995
Engulfed by nature, his expression became increasingly more romantic and visionary. He crafted large paintings with a more subdued, symbolic human presence.
His artwork was exhibited all over Europe and received many orders for engravings and drawings, which were exhibited at fairs in Germany and Belgium.
In 1982, he published his great collection of engravings 'The Apocalypse' which he also wrote the text.
In 1983 he published 'Lokis' by Prosper Mérimée and the following year 'The Hymn to the Night' by the German poet Novalis.
In 1989 he published 'The Seven Words of the Crow', then, in 1992, 'The Book of Poverty and Death' by the Austrian poet and novelist Rainer Maria Rilke.
In 1995, he was made a member of The Society of French Painters and Engravers and was awarded the Bresdin Prize which honours the best engravers of France.
Solo Exhibitions
1964: Paris, Galerie de la Cour d'Ingres, presented by Jose Pierre
1967: Brussels, Studio 65. Bourges, House of Culture. Paris, Jacques Desbrières Gallery
1968: Paris, Inna Salomon Gallery
1971: Dusseldorf, Graphic Salon Engravings
1972: Paris, Gallery of the Court of Ingres
1976: Lyon, Gallery K
1978-79: travelling exhibitions in French museums and cultural centers, organised by Gérard Xuriguera.
1979: Paris, Claude Joly Gallery, Luxembourg, Paul Bruck Gallery
1982: Paris, Hermitage Gallery, engravings
1987: Paris, Hermitage Gallery, drawings
1989: Paris, Hermitage Gallery, paintings
1990-92: Paris, Leonardo Gallery, paintings
1995: Paris, Hermitage Gallery, paintings
1997-2000: Paris, Salon of Painters and Engravers
2001-2004: Paris, Galerie Jean-Max Estève, Works on paper
2004-2005: Montreal, Galerie Avalon Art Fantastique, paintings, engravings and drawings
2021: Paris, The City of Arts, 'Flayed, Barked' engravings, drawings, paintings
In addition to his participation in the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, the Salon de la Jeune Peinture, the Salon des Comparaisons, the Salon de Mai, Yves Milet-Desfougères has participated in group exhibitions:
1960: Rome, Galleria Apia Antica
1960-63: Paris, Raymond Cordier Gallery
1964: Paris, Europe Gallery. Paris, Museum of Modern Art. Daily Mythologies
1966: Paris, "Donner à Voir" presented by JJ Lévêque, Galerie le Soleil dans la tête
1967: Paris, Gallery 3+2. "The Fantasy World"
1968: London, Redmark Gallery. Orly Airport. Stockholm, Latina Gallery
1969: Culan Castle (Cher). 'Fantasy Artsticism and Surrealism from the 15th to the 20th Century'
1974: Paris, Biennale of Engraving. City of Paris Museum of Modern Art
1974-76: Paris, Chiron Gallery
1975: May Salon, Paris
1979: Paris, The Line
1984: Paris, Broutta Gallery "Seven Visionaries"
2003: Montreal, Clair Obscur Gallery, engravings
2003 : Montreal, 106U Gallery, 'Rencontres', engravings
2006 to date : Montreal, monthly exhibition, 106U Gallery
2022
On February 18, Yves Milet-Desfougères dies in Paris XV
On March 1, he was buried in the Père-Lachaise cemetery
PRINTER AND FRIEND
Maître d'Art
PIERRE LALLIER (1946-2021)
The production of prints and engravings is an art that is both sumptuous and delicate. For centuries, it has made it possible to edit and therefore reproduce an artist's work.
The technique of copperplate engraving dates back to the 15th century. It is an intaglio printmaking process in which lines are cut into a metal plate in order to hold the ink. In engraving, the plate can be made of copper or zinc. After inking, the copper plate placed on the press table is covered with a sheet of wet paper, then felt and passed between the two rolls of the press. By the pressure, the wet paper fetches the ink from the sizes. This process is opposed to the conventional printing where only the reliefs are inked.
History maker
Born in 1946, Pierre Lallier began at a very young age to take an interest in the prints he bought at the flea markets or at the bookshops on the banks of the Seine in Paris. After his apprenticeship in the G.Leblanc Atelier, a mythical printing house founded in 1793 during the French Revolution, he took over the Atelier in 1968 with his father, Maurice Lallier.
A friendship of fifty years
Pierre noticed, among the engravings checked each morning, one that caught his attention: 'Hommage à Bresdin' by Yves Milet. Eager to know this artist better, they built an amicable relationship by working together. Milet became accustomed to coming often to the Atelier to speak with Pierre, who listened with a sincere interest in his deep and original vision.
The pair liked to talk about art, merchants and the art market. In 1969, Pierre visited his artist’s studio, first in Montparnasse, then in Malakoff where he bought many paintings, engravings and drawings.
After the Workshop closed at the end of 2008, meetings continued in Milet's studio until Pierre’s passing in December 2021. Milet passed less than three months after him, in February 2022, after fifty years of friendship.
