Max Bucaille
ALWAYS ON THE MOVE
Born in Sainte-Croix-Hague, near Cherbourg, on June 30, 1906, his career as a mathematics teacher in the Val de Marne was paralleled by a life devoted to the search for “the true place” at the end of a reverie, the reverie dear to Gaston Bachelard, his favorite philosopher.
Author of Surrealist poems and collages from 1930, he contributed to art magazines and publications from 1936-1939.
When war broke out, he was assigned to the 3rd COA Section on September 5, 1939. Taken prisoner at Mordelles, he was interned in Stalag IV C in Czechoslovakia on June 17, 1940, until May 15, 1945, when he was liberated by the Allies. During his captivity, he continued to draw Surrealist works in pencil.
He became a member of the Groupe Surréaliste Révolutionnaire from 1947 to 1949, along with Nöel Arnaud, Jean Laude and Christian Dotremont, Joseph Istler, Asger Jorn…
While continuing to devote himself to collage, his palette expanded to include painting and sculpture. He created a new pictorial technique: photopainting, with numerous experiments in the darkroom…
His meeting with Emile Malespine gave rise to a friendship, exchanges and the confrontation of techniques. Bucaille made regular visits to Clairefontaine in the Yvelines, to Malespine’s former home, a haven of peace and a magical place where paintings and sculptures were born.
He was one of the founders and most eminent representatives of the international “Fantasmagie” group. He is considered one of the masters of fantastic realism. He was also a member of the Collège de Pataphysique.
ARTIST AND MATHEMATICIAN
Mathematics had a considerable influence on his compositions, some of which are clearly transpositions of “artistic” mathematical curves.
This modest man had no limits to his curiosity. And his curiosity went far beyond his art. He was fascinated by fantasy, irrational mathematics and the wise philosophers of the East…
An entire life spent pursuing a passionate inner adventure, creating an exceptional body of work.
CONTEMPORARY POET AND WRITER OF MAX BUCAILLE
Even if tomorrow’s chemistry transforms us at will into blissful jockeys or desperate robots, there will always be freedom. It lies behind the lips of wood, the waves of marble. There, parties without a purpose, appointments without an hour that no one can miss. There, the fish without water, the salamander without fire, the rhyme without poem and the tail without head frolic without paying anything. Bucaille is handing us the keys to this supreme childhood, where we may soon have to take to the woodshed.
Jean ROUSSELOT
Unveiling surrealism with every brushstroke and collage, he captivates hearts and minds the world over.