Maurice Noirot

(1946–2012)

Maurice Noirot was born in Besançon, France, to a very modest family. Timid in character, Noirot was very imaginative, engaging and sensitive, and a faithful friend. In 1983, aged 37, Noirot had an accident causing him to lose much of the use of his legs. A disability pension allowed him to settle permanently in Hugier, a small village in Franche-Comté. There, he devoted himself fully to his art. His house soon became a warehouse teeming with his creations. Poet and sage, he dedicated his work to the transmutation of violence and rage into bliss. He expressed a dream of living in an innocent fairy world, surrounded by supernatural creatures.

At the end of his life, he tended to make works from wood carved with a knife or from cardboard cut with a cutter, which were painted in oil in a soft, coloured style. Noirot presented himself as a self-taught artist who learned more from the contact of children than from Fine Arts school. He was also a song writer, and his creations often reveal his kindness and his modesty. A moving pre-recorded poem by Noirot called Testament was played at his farewell ceremony.

by Dominique Sablons