La Pirogue - Oil On Panel Signed And Dated 1948

Jean Michon (1926 - 1988) Self-taught painter born in the Côtes du Nord, he was nourished from an early age by stories from distant lands brought back by parents who had made a career in the colonies. His adolescence is haunted by the call of the horizon. After the years of Occupation spent in Paris, he embarked at the age of 21 on a boat leaving 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 position in Bora-Bora. Dazzled by what he discovers, he begins to draw and paint to express all that he feels. He spent three years crisscrossing Polynesia, returned to Metropolitan France then left for eleven years in Cameroon and three in Madagascar, returned to France before leaving for Wallis in 1970. After a few years in New Caledonia, he returned to Wallis to spend his retirement but returns regularly to Nouméa to exhibit.