Ivo Michiels
1923 - 2012
Born in Mortsel (BE), died in Le Barroux (FR).
Ivo Michiels is the pseudonym of Henri Paul René Cuppens, born in 1923. He was not only an author, but also an art critic, a screenwriter, teacher and editor of well-known newspapers and magazines. In the early part of his career, he uses a traditional style of writing, but this changes from the mid-1950s, when he switches to experimental prose. Since 1963, he is widely known for his book ‘Het Boek Alfa’, and from then on, he is honoured as the father of experimental prose. His way of writing, his ideas, his books, are partly shaped by the tumultuous period he experienced during World War II. Christiane Faes, whom he married in 1965, is an inspiration to him; she is not only an author herself, but to him she is also his muse. From 1979 until his death in 2012 they lived in Le Barroux, a municipality in the south of France.
Ivo Michiels met Jef Verheyen in September 1955 and short after Verheyen introduced him to the French and Italian art scene of their time. They don’t only have a very close and intense friendship, but they also benefit from each other professionally. Their correspondence involves extensive letters, covering both business and personal things. It talks about travelling, private life, work, and frustrations, but most of all it shows how unconditionally the two supported each other.
Works
>Roland Verhavert, Rik Kuypers, Ivo Michiels, Meeuwen sterven in de haven [Seagulls Die in the Harbour], 1955.Film.
>Ivo Michiels, Jef Verheyen, Deutsche Buchgemeinschaft, Galerie Accent (Antwerpen), Twee Antwerpse Jongeren. Jef Verheyen: een nieuwe naam met stevige waarborgen. Paul Van Hoeydonck: een verrassing in de hoofdstad, 1956.Article, ink on newspaper, collage.
>Adriaan de Roover, Ivo Michiels, Deutsche Buchgemeinschaft, Jef Verheyen, • 0709 • Untitled, 1956.Painting, paint on slate, 40 x 40 cm.
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>Jef Verheyen, Ivo Michiels, 801 Untitled, 1957.Painting, oil paint on masonite, 61 x 81 cm.
>Jef Verheyen, Ivo Michiels, Jef Verheyen di Ivo Michiels, 1957.Text, ink on paper.
>Jef Verheyen, Ivo Michiels, • 0827 • Zelfontmoeting (Self-Contemplation), 1958.Painting, oil paint on burlap, 200 x 114 cm.
>Ivo Michiels, Jef Verheyen, Galleria Pater, Jef Verheyen est un peintre (et céramiste) anversois, 1958.Text, ink on paper, 1/2 page.
>Jef Verheyen, Ivo Michiels, Galleria Pater, Comhaire, André Comhaire, Invitation to the first exhibition in Galleria Pater, Milan, 1958.Invitation Card, ink on paper.
>Jef Verheyen, Ivo Michiels, • 0459 • Le Voile du Mystère, 1958-1959.Painting, oil paint on burlap, varnished, 81 x 100 cm .
>Ivo Michiels, Jef Verheyen, 't Venster, Jef Verheyen (introduction), 1959.Text, ink on paper, collage, 1 page.
>Ivo Michiels, Jef Verheyen, Galleria d'arte del Grattacielo, Jef Verheyen (IT), 1959.Text, ink on paper, collage, 1 page.
>Jef Verheyen, Ivo Michiels, Lucio Fontana, Brief uit Milaan. Waar de avant-garde blijft voortbestaan, 1959.Article, ink on newspaper, collage.
>Frank Philippi, Jef Verheyen, Ivo Michiels, Reproduction of 'Le Voile du Mystère', 1959.Photography, black-and-white photograph.
>Ivo Michiels, Jef Verheyen, Galerie Kasper, Jef Verheyen Peintre Flamand (Art Actuel), 1959.Article, ink on newspaper, 1/4 page.
>Jef Verheyen, Galleria d'arte del Grattacielo, Ivo Michiels, Jef Verheyen, 1959.Invitation Card, ink on paper.
>Jef Verheyen, Hermann Goepfert, Serge Largot, Nanda Vigo, Raymond Dauphin, Rochus Kowallek, Lucio Fontana, Gotthard Graubner, Jan van der Borgt, Maria Mara, Paul Ibou, Jos Macken, Frank-Ivo van Damme, Piet Sterckx, Christian Megert, Galerie Edith Wahlandt, Dominique Stroobant, Guy Stern, Lotte Lenya, Leon In den Kleef, Madeleine Everaert, Marlborough Gallery, Hergé, Roger Nellens, Hugues C. Pernath, The Antwerp Gallery , Albert Szukalski, Anselm Thürwächter, Galerie Bernard, Ivo Michiels, Blinky Palermo, Gerhard Richter, Guy Vaes, Vic Gentils, Adam Seide, Günther Uecker, Piero Manzoni, Jef Verheyen's Liber Amicis, 1962-1984.Other, mixed media on bound paper.
>Ivo Michiels, Jef Verheyen, Jef Verheyen, schilder. Ook een verhaal, 1966.Text, ink on paper, 4 p..
>Jef Verheyen, Henri-Floris Jespers, Guy Vaes, Ivo Michiels, Wout Vercammen, Pour une peinture non plastique (hardcover), 1967.Book, ink on paper, hardcover.
>Jef Verheyen, Guy Vaes, Henri-Floris Jespers, Ivo Michiels, Wout Vercammen, Pour une peinture non plastique (softcover), 1967.Book, ink on paper, softcover, 28 x 18.2 cm.
>Jef Verheyen, Ivo Michiels, Notebook 'Nog uit te voeren werken', 1970-1973.Book, pencil and ink on paper, A4.
>Ivo Michiels, Jef Verheyen, Jef Verheyen. Anvers, septembre 1955, 1972.Text, ink on paper, collage, 1 p..
>Jef Verheyen, Ivo Michiels, Paul Ibou, Frank Philippi, Multi-Art Gallery, Multi-Art Press International, Liliane Emma Staal, Jef Verheyen 40, 1972.Poster, ink on paper, 80 x 40 cm.
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>Multi-Art Gallery, Frank Philippi, Liliane Emma Staal, Ivo Michiels, Multi-Art Press International, Jef Verheyen, Paul Ibou, Sammlung Lenz, 157 Jef Verheyen 40 (ed. 220), 1972.Multiple, book multiple containing 4 serigrpahs, 180 pages book with texts, photographs and colour illustrations. package: white cardboard box inside chromed aluminium box finished with a printed tricolour laser, bookmultiple , 43 x 43 x 4 cm box, 40 x 40 cm each serigraph.
>Ivo Michiels, Frank Philippi, R. Stanislawski, Jef Verheyen, Jef Verheyen, 1973.Book, ink on paper.
>Axel Vervoordt, Ivo Michiels, Jef Verheyen, • 0751 • Les arbres ne fleurissent qu'au Printemps, 1974.Painting, matt lacquer on canvas, 96 x 96 cm.
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>Jef Verheyen, Ivo Michiels, Henri-Floris Jespers, Uitgeverij & Vondel, 722 Weer-spiegelingen (ed. 120), 1979.Multiple, linnen box with bindings and 4 serigraphs, 43 x 31 cm.
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>Jef Verheyen, Ivo Michiels, Erker Galerie, Erker Press, Sammlung Lenz, 375 Grand Oeuvre - Ivo Michiels 10 Texte / Jef Verheyen 10 Variationen zu Dia (ed. 92), 1981.Multiple, portfolio with 10 lithographs and 10 texts (lithographs), rives france paper, 68 x 52 cm portfolio, 65 x 50 cm each lithograph (20).
>Ivo Michiels, Jef Verheyen, Jef Verheyen: Een drievoudige beweging (Museummagazine KMSKA), 1984.Article, ink on paper, 5 pages.
>Ivo Michiels, Jef Verheyen, Het lichtgewicht van de schilder Jef Verheyen , 1984.Text, ink on paper, 11 p..
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>Frank Heirman, Ivo Michiels, Jef Verheyen, Ivo Michiels: Misschien wel een schrijver die schildert, 2011.Text, ink on paper, 5 p..
Exhibitions & Ensembles
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> Exhibition: Jef Verhejen. .
> Exhibition: Jef Verheyen. 24 November 1956 - 14 December 1956.
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> Exhibition: Jef Verheyen. 26 April 1959 - 09 May 1959.
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> Exhibition: Jef Verheyen - Arkturus. 07 July 1972 - 31 July 1972.
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> Exhibition: Jef Verheyen - Painting . 10 June 1973 - 08 July 1973.
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> Exhibition: Jef Verheyen - Peintures monochromes. 29 April 1960 - 05 June 1960.
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> Exhibition: Jef Verheyen - Schilderijen. 17 October 1959 - 06 November 1959.
> Exhibition: Jef Verheyen. Window on Infinity. 23 March 2024 - 18 August 2024.
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> Exhibition: Klein - Rotraut - Uecker - Verheyen. 20 October 1965 - 07 November 1965.
> Exhibition: LATT: new art in Antwerp 1958-1962 #1 the attic myth. 10 February 2012 - 18 March 2012.
> Exhibition: Retrospectieve Jef Verheyen 1932-1984. 26 March 1994 - 13 June 1994.
> Exhibition: Retrospectieve Jef Verheyen 1932-1984. 10 July 1994 - 04 September 1994.
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> Exhibition: Seeing is feeling with the eyes. 22 February 2019 - 20 April 2019.
> Exhibition: Vision in Motion / Motion in Vision. 21 March 1959 - 03 May 1959.
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - ARCHIVE.
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> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Artist's Writings and Theory.
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> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Ateliers.
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> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Ceramics .
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> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen Digital Platform.
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> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Monographic exhibition catalogues.
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> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Notebooks and Sketchbooks.
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - OEUVRE.
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> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Photographs.
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> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Press Articles .
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Shared Works.
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> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Sketch Drawings and Notes .
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> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Solo Exhibitions Posters.
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Works from the 1950s.
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Works from the 1960s.
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Works from the 1970s.
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> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Writings about the Artist.
> Ensemble: Window on Infinity - Room 02.
> Ensemble: Window on Infinity - Room 04.
> Ensemble: Window on Infinity - Room 10.