Henri Goetz

Henri Bernard Goetz
Born	(1909-09-29)September 29, 1909 New York City, U.S.
Died	August 12, 1989(1989-08-12)(aged 79) Nice,France
Nationality	French and American
Education	Grand Central School of Art,New York Académie Colarossi,Paris Académie Julian,Paris Académie de la Grande Chaumière,Paris
Known for	Painting,etching,pastel
Movement	Surrealism

Henri Bernard Goetz(September 29, 1909 – August 12, 1989) was a French Americansurrealistpainter andengraver.He is known for his artwork, as well as for inventing thecarborundum printmakingprocess. His work is represented in more than 100 galleries worldwide.

Early life

Goetz was born in New York City in 1909. His father ran anelectrical plant.He later described his mother as a "quasi-academic" because of the two large parenting books she owned. He began drawing because the books told that a child needs a certain number of hours outside in a day, and as such he was not allowed to come home before six. On one rainy day, he made use of his time by drawing. However, he was frustrated with his clumsy drawing, and tore it up. He later asked his mother to beat him for his failure as an artist.

Personal life

In September 1935, Goetz met Christine Boumeester at theAcadémie de la Grande Chaumière.Christine was a very shy Dutch painter fromJava,Indonesia. Goetz invited her to visit his studio, and she moved in with him several days later. They were married when Christine's parents visited them in Paris. He credited Christine with much of his early development fromrealismto his more modern surrealist painting style. Around this time he metHans Hartung,who introduced him to his circle of friends. Through this, he metFernand LégerandWassily Kandinsky.

World War II

Portrait of Henri Goetz byEvelyn Marcduring the 1950s.

As World War II began, both Goetz and his wife worked with theFrench Resistance.They printed leaflets on a simpleprinting pressand created posters to paste on walls around Paris. However, they primarily worked to forgeidentity documents.In 1939, Goetz,Christian Dotremont,andRaoul UbaccreatedLa Main à Plume,the first surrealist publication under the Occupation.

The group made false documents for a Czech poet who, upon being caught by the German authorities, told them of the surrealists who would be meeting in a few days. The group was arrested, although Goetz was not among them. However, Ubec was arrested, and the authorities found a note from Goetz detailing instructions on forging identity cards. For this, as well as for Goetz's American nationality, he and Christine were forced to flee toCôte d'Azur.

They moved toCannes,where Goetz was forced to take on such jobs as cutting sandstone. After theLiberation of Parisin 1944, Goetz and his wife were able to return.

In 1968, Christine became ill. She lived with her illness for three years, before dying in Paris on January 10, 1971.After her death, he came across a number of her journals, which he published in a book calledChristine Boumeester's notebooks.He prefaced the book.

After being hospitalized for an illness, Goetz committed suicide by jumping from the fifth floor of the hospital, dying inNice,France on August 12, 1989.

Education

When he was eighteen, he left home to attend theMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyinCambridge,Massachusetts,where he studied to be anelectrical engineer.However, he started taking evening art classes and began to devote his summer vacations to painting instead of apprenticeship. He decided to enroll atHarvard University,also in Cambridge, where he attendedart historylectures with the intent of becoming a museumcurator.While attending classes inFogg Museum,he realized he wanted to be an artist. He left Harvard the next year to attend theGrand Central School of Artin New York City, where he enrolled in morning, evening, and night classes. In July, 1930, he decided to leave America to go to Paris, using money he had saved working as a golfcaddieand as an apprentice electrical engineer.

Paris apprenticeship

The day after arriving in Paris, Goetz began attending theAcadémie Colarossi,aiming to split his time between the studios there and those at theAcadémie Julianand the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. He also frequented theMontparnasse art studios,including the studio ofAmédée Ozenfant.He was not interested in formal training, instead looking for somewhere to paint. He began by paintingportraitureand studying thenude figure.He stayed in Paris for two years, only returning home once to collect his belongings after deciding to stay in France permanently. However, after these two years, he returned home to stay with his ailing father. After staying with his father for a year, he again returned to Paris. His father died several weeks later. Goetz lived with several other undiscovered artists in France.

In 1934, Goetz met Victor Bauer, an Austrian artist. Bauer taught Goetz of the existence ofPablo Picasso,Georges Braque,Henri Matisse,andGeorges Rouault.Bauer also taught Goetz aboutleft-wing politics,Sigmund Freud's ideology, andavant-gardepoetry and music. Through Bauer, he was able to show his first painting in a show inLondon.

Career

In January 1937, Goetz held his first exhibition at the Galerie Bonaparte with his wife. In 1945, after returning to Paris from several years working with the French Resistance forging documents, Goetz worked with René Guilly on a national radio program calledThe World of Paris.Ubac covered poetry, and Goetz covered painting. Goetz visited a new studio each week and, through this, met with artists such as Pablo Picasso,Constantin Brâncuși,Wassily Kandinsky,Julio González,Francis Picabia,andMax Ernst.He continued broadcasting for six months before giving his position to someone else.

In 1947, Goetz became the subject of a short film byAlain Resnaisfor theMusée National d'Art ModerneentitledPortrait de Henri Goetz.Goetz showed the film toGaston Diehl,leading Diehl to commission Resnais to create the filmVan Goghin the following year. Resnais went on to win anAcademy Awardin 1950 for theBest Short Subject, Two-reelfilm forVan Gogh.

Teaching

In 1949, Goetz began to teach a painting class. The class grew so large that he had to move it to theAcadémie Ranson.After five years of teaching there, he taught for another five years at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, eventually running two classes due to the number of pupils. He taught at many other schools before finally founding the Académie Goetz. He never charged money for his lessons. Of his students, Goetz said, "Some became excellent artists, and some became fashionable artists, but rarely the same ones became both."In 1968 he accepted a teaching position atÉcole des Beaux-Arts,but the school was closed due to student strikes two weeks later. He then moved to work atParis 8 University,where he taught painting and etching classes.

Etching

Goetz and his wife had long worked together to illustrate several books with their etchings. Christine had taken classes in the subject before World War II at theAcadémie des Beaux-Arts,and had taught Goetz. They collaborated onGeorges Hugnet's book,La femme facil,as well as other books. After seeing some of theirlithographs,a friend of theirs encouraged them to etch full-time.Johnny Friedlaendergave them a small printing press that he no longer used, and Fin, Pablo Picasso's nephew, helped them modify it. Christine focused mostly on lithography, while Goetz focused mostly on etching. They also helped designsilk screens.

Carborundum printing

Citing a lack of patience and methodical ways,Goetz inventedcarborundum printmakingin the 1960s.In 1968,La gravure au carborundum,atreatiseon carborundum printing, was published by the Maeght Gallery. It was prefaced byJoan Miró.Goetz created many abstract prints using this method. Other artists such asAntoni Clavé,Antoni Tàpies,and in particular, Joan Miró, employed carborundum printing in their work. The technique has since been used by printmakers around the world.

In addition to his carborundum printing research, Goetz undertook extensive research onpastels.