biography
Nothing about his childhood suggested that Raphaël Lonné would be destined to draw. Born in the Landes region of France in 1910 to a family of sharecroppers, he stopped school at the age of 8 to work the land. Later on, he was successively a tramway conductor, a concierge-chauffeur, a handyman at the children’s hospital and then, after the war, a postman. Though he always showed an interest in music, he never dreamt of being a sketch artist. It was only in 1950, during an improvised spiritualist meeting at the house of some friends, that he produced his first work: with only a pencil and a piece of paper for the purpose of receiving any messages that might arrive from beyond, “[he] suddenly left, like thunder, to scribble.” No other session took place, but Lonné, alone, continued to draw at night, concentrating to enter into contact with the spirits who guided “the movement of [his] hand.” These impressive, spontaneous creations, covered in curves and delicate arabesques, a lightness bordering on joy, reveal some forms, women, animals, dog heads, birds... even if Lonné himself couldn’t really put a name to the whims of his pencil.
Discovered by Jean Dubuffet in 1963, and well-established in this family of artists dear to art brut enthusiasts, the spiritualists, Lonné has always refused to sell his works, vowing to not profit from them. Today, these productions, now art brut classics, are being amply shown.
selective exhibitions
au delà : aux confins du visible et de l'invisible, christian berst art brut, paris, from march 7th to april 13th, 2019.
drawing now art fair, le carreau du temple, from march 22th to 25th 2018.
art brut: a history of individual mythologies, curator: christian berst, oliva creative factory, sao joao da madeira, june 18, 2016 - february 26, 2017.
art brut : breaking the boundaries, treger-saint silvestre collection, from june 1st to september 11th, 2014 curator : christian berst, olivia creative factory, sao joao da madeira, porto.
beyond the boundaries 2012, gallery christian berst art brut, 8 september - 13 october 2012.
amicalement brut: collection eternod & mermod, musée d'art moderne lille métropole, villeneuve d'Ascq, 9 april - 28 august 2011.
inner worlds outside, travelling exhibition, sala de exposiciones de la fundacíon "la caixa," madrid; whitechapel gallery, london; irish museum of modern art, dublin, 2006.
art spirite, médiumnique et visionnaire, messages d'outre monde, halle saint pierre, paris, 13 september 1999 - 27 february 2000.
selective bibliography
exhibition catalog, au delà : aux confins du visible et de l'invisible, christian berst art brut ed, paris, 2019.
l'art brut, martine lusardy, citadelles & mazenod, paris, 2018.
art brut : la pulsion creativa al desnudo, graciela garcia, sans soleil ed., vitoria-gasteiz, 2018.
Art Brut collection ABCD, exhibition catalogue of La maison rouge (10.18.2014 to 01.18.2015), texts written by Barbara Safarova, Christiane Cuticchio, and conversation between Bruno Decharme, Antoine de Galbert and Paula Aisemberg, Paris, Éditions Fage, La maison rouge, 2014
Art brut : Breaking the boundaries, Treger-Saint Silvestre Collection, from June 1st to September 11th, 2014 curator : Christian Berst, Olivia Creative Factory, Sao Joao da Madeira, Porto.
Séminaire sur l’art brut. Actes 1:De quoi parle l'art brut ?, sous la direction de Barbara Safarova, Bresson, abcd.www.abcd-artbrut.net, 2012.
Lucienne Peiry, Collection de l’Art Brut. Lausanne, co-édition Collection de l'Art Brut et Skira-Flammarion, Paris, 2012.
Art Brut, Outsider, Modeste, revue 303, La revue culturelle des Pays de la Loire, n°119, 2012.
L'Aracine & l'art brut, Les chemins de l'art brut (8), catalogue d'exposition (24/09- 15/12/2009, Galerie Colbert, INHA, Paris; 19/01-26/02/2010, Galerie Les 3 Lacs, Lille 3, Villeneuve d'Ascq), Lille, LaM, 2009.
David Maclagan, Outsider Art, From the Margins to the Marketplace, London, Reaktion books, 2009.
Outsider Art, Source Book, Art brut, folk art, outsider art, raw vision Ltd, 2009.
The Message, Art and occultism, Claudia Dichter et al., Cologne, éd. Walter König, 2007.
Raphaël Lonné, dibujos, textes de Juan Miguel Hernandez Leon, Josette Rasle et Christian Delacampagne, Madrid, Circulo de Bellas Artes, 2007.
Art Brut, Collection abcd, catalogue de l’exposition « art brut, sbirka abcd » à Galerie de la ville de Prague (14 juin -10 septembre 2006), abcd les éditions, 2006.
Laurent Danchin, L’Art brut, L’Instinct créateur, Paris, Découverte Gallimard, 2006.
A corps perdu, ABCD, une collection de l’art brut, catalogue d'exposition (Paris, Pavillon des arts, 30 avril - 26 septembre 2004), Paris, Paris musées, 2004.
John Maizels, L’Art brut, l’art outsider et au-delà, Paris, Phaidon, 2003.
Colin Rhodes, L’Art Outsider, Art brut et création hors normes au XXe siècle, Paris, Editions Thames & Hudson, Coll. « L’univers de l’art », 2001.
Madeleine Lommel, “Raw Classics : Raphaël Lonné”, in Raw Vision n° 35, 2001.
Abcd une collection d’art brut, Arles, Actes Sud / [Paris] ABCD, 2000.
Art spirite, médiumnique et visionnaire : Messages d’Outre-Monde, textes de Martine Lusardy, Michel Thévoz, Roger Cardinal, Laurent Danchin, etc., catalogue d'exposition (13 septembre 1999 – 27 février 2000, Halle-saint-Pierre), Paris, Hoëbeke, 1999.
Art Brut, Collection de L'Aracine, catalogue d'exposition (2 février, 14 juillet 1997), Musée d'Art Moderne, Communauté Urbaine de Lille-Villeneuve d'Ascq, 1997.
Laurent Danchin, Art brut et compagnie, la face cachée de l’art contemporain, Paris, La Différence, 1995.
Roger Cardinal, « European Mediumistic Art In The Outsider Domain , The Art of Entrancement » in Raw Vision n°2, 1989.
Les Singuliers de l'art, des inspirés aux habitants paysagistes, Arc2, Musée d'Art Moderne de la villes de Paris, Catalogue d'exposition, 19 janviers-5 mars 1978.
José Pierre, “Raphaël Lonné et le retour des médiums” in L’Oeil n°216, 1972.
Michel Thévoz, L’Art Brut, Genève, Skira, 1975
Catalogue de la collection de l'art brut, Paris, publications de la collection de l'Art Brut, 1971
L’Art Brut, catalogue d’exposition, Musée des Arts Décoratifs (7 avril au 5 juin 1967), texte de Jean Dubuffet (Place à l’incivisme), Paris, Compagnie de l’Art Brut & Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs, 1967
Jean Dubuffet, « Le Facteur Lonné » in Fascicule de l’Art Brut n°1, Paris, Compagnie de l’Art Brut, 1964.
selective collections
- collection de l'Art brut, Lausanne (Switzerland)
- LaM, musée d'art moderne, d'art contemporain et d'art brut de Lille Métropole, Villeneuve d'Ascq (France)
- The Musgrave Kinley Outsider Art Collection, Manchester (Saint Pierre and Miquelon)
- American Folk Art Museum, New-York (United States)
- abcd collection, montreuil (France)
- Treger Saint Silvestre collection, Porto (Portugal)
