The painter and engraver Yves Milet-Desfougères was born in Vierzon in 1934. Very young, he is passionate about drawing and, strongly inspired by Van Gogh, begins to paint at the age of 16. He entered the School of Fine Arts in Angers in 1950, then moved to Paris two years later where he joined the School of Fine Arts.He made theatre sets and stained glass. He approached

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  Biography of Yves Milet

  The painter and engraver Yves Milet-Desfougères was born in Vierzon in 1934. Very young, he is passionate about drawing and, strongly inspired by Van Gogh, begins to paint at the age of 16. He entered the School of Fine Arts in Angers in 1950, then moved to Paris two years later where he joined the School of Fine Arts.
  He made theatre sets and stained glass. He approached Georges Mathieu, whose work he appreciated, but this meeting was a disappointment.
  In 1957, Yves Milet destroyed much of his production of dark paintings and kept only one portrait. In the 1960s, he became close to the surrealists and met André Breton. In the following years he participated in the activities of the surrealist group, for example by collaborating in the journal «La Brèche». Close to Jorge Camacho, Agustín Cardenas, José Pierre and, even more, Jacques Le Maréchal, the artist will nevertheless pursue a solitary path, away from the artistic currents of the end of the 20th century. Influenced by surrealism, but also by abstract painting, not to mention German, Flemish and Dutch painting, the artist builds a personal style of dreamlike green characters.In 1966, Yves Milet turned to engraving. His first plate is a tribute to the engraver Rodolphe Bresdin. This experience of engraving will also change his approach to painting, he now integrates shadow and light. The relationship between his organic characters and nature becomes complex, romantic and dialectical. His largely figurative work is characterized by a great imaginative and fantastic force; his style developed since the 1960s is sometimes similar to that of the painter-engraver Dado.In the 1970s, he devoted himself mainly to engraving and placed painting in the background. Penetrated by Nature, his characters become organic then fade and disappear. In the 1980s, his expression became more and more romantic and visionary; he produced large paintings with a more symbolic human presence.The modern illustrated book was an important part of his engraved work; in 1982 he published a collection of engravings entitled «Apocalypse» of which he also wrote the texts. He will illustrate many works, including «Lokis» by Prosper Mérimée (1983) and «Hymnes à la nuit» by the German poet Novalis (1984). He also published «The Seven Words of the Raven» in 1989, then «The Book of Poverty and Death» by the Austrian writer and poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1992).In 1995, Yves Milet-Desfougères was a member of the Société des peintres-graveurs français and won the Bresdin prize, which honours the great French engravers.It should be noted that Yves Milet collaborated for several decades with the Atelier Pierre Lallier, the latter becoming a true friend, above all sharing this long artistic journey.He has participated in about 100 exhibitions in France, Europe and Canada.Yves Milet-Desfougères died in Paris in 2022 (see the tribute page), he was 87 years old.
  
  

  

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