SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
The French artist and poet Henri Chopin developed, from 1955 onwards, an artistic practice in which voice and body occupy a central place in poetry. After buying his first tape recorder, he experimented with what he described as poetry that was “more corporeal than linguistic”: recording thus became a means of working with sound material in ways other than through written language alone.
In 1964, Chopin launched the record-magazine OU, which took over from Cinquième Saison and was published for ten years. The publication brought together sound and graphic contributions, notably by William S. Burroughs, Brion Gysin, Gil J Wolman, François Dufrêne and Bernard Heidsieck. It bears witness to his editorial activity as well as to his interest in forms of poetry that move between the page and listening. His work also extended to radio and film: from 1961 to 1963, he made programmes with producer Maguy Lovano for Paris-Inter. In 1971, Télévision Suisse Romande broadcast his first film devoted to sound poetry; the following year, he made his first radio play with Klaus Schöning at Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Cologne.
This practice also took shape through encounters and publications. In 1976, he took part in the “Colloque de Tanger” in Geneva, organised by Gérard-Georges Lemaire, alongside William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin. The catalogue Graphic, objective and other poems appeared in connection with the Whitechapel Arts Gallery in London in 1974, followed by Sonic memory in connection with Norwich Gallery in 1998. From 1992 to 1993, Chopin taught at Schule für Dichtung, the school of poetry in Vienna. Among the documented works is Niemals das!!!, dated 2003 and described as a mixed-media work and collage on stiff paper, signed, measuring 450 × 350 mm.
This profile brings together identity references for Henri Chopin and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
Germann
References include catalogue entries and available results; they do not all represent completed sales.
Mixed media and collage on sturdy paper.
Niemals das!!!, 2003
Mischtechnik und Collage auf festem Papier.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Mischtechnik (Dactylographie) auf Papier.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Mischtechnik (Dactylographie) auf Papier.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Profile updated :
Recently enriched profiles
Abstract sculptor, painter and graphic artist, Otto Herbert Hajek (1927–2005) developed a body of work that also extends into public space and is particularly visible in Stuttgart, h…
1 auction referenceThe German landscape painter and engraver Leonhard Rausch, associated with Romanticism, was born in Jülich in 1813 and died in Düsseldorf in 1895. His preferred subjects range from t…
2 auction referencesThe Polish painter Antoni Karol Suchanek, born in Rzeszów in 1901 and died in Gdynia in 1982, pursued his artistic practice for more than sixty years, according to W. Zmorzyński. In…
1 auction reference