TELEMAQUE Hervé

A white cane, a hanger, a suitcase: with Hervé Télémaque, a major figure of narrative figuration, ordinary objects become riddles full of humor and memory. Discover his original lithographs above.

Hervé Télémaque, the Art of Storytelling with Objects

A white cane, a hanger, a suitcase, a cut-out silhouette, an isolated word: in Hervé Télémaque's work, the most ordinary objects become pieces of a rebus where humor, memory, and history intertwine. Born in Haiti, trained in New York, and settled in Paris, this painter was a major figure in narrative figuration, a movement that, in the 1960s, sought to depict the contemporary world with the images of its time.

• 1937: born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on November 5.
• 1957-1960: studies at the Art Students League of New York.
• 1961: moves to Paris.
• 1964: participates in the exhibition "Mythologies quotidiennes," a founding act of narrative figuration.
• 2015: retrospective at the Centre Pompidou.
• 2022: dies in Paris.

From Port-au-Prince to New York

Born in Port-au-Prince, Hervé Télémaque left for New York in 1957, where he studied at the Art Students League. There, he discovered abstract expressionism, then in its heyday, and initially adopted its free gesture. However, he felt alienated by this art form that rejected narrative and by the segregation he observed in the United States. In 1961, he chose Paris.

Narrative Figuration

In Paris, Télémaque gravitated towards the surrealists, then a generation of artists seeking to reintroduce image and narrative into painting. In 1964, he participated in the exhibition "Mythologies quotidiennes" at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, alongside Erró, Peter Klasen, and Bernard Rancillac. Like them, he borrowed from comics, advertising, and graphic design their flat colors and bold outlines. Yet his language was highly personal: familiar objects, often outlined, paired with words, arrows, and body fragments, form enigmas that speak of identity, colonial memory, desire, and consumer society.

A Work in Motion

Over the decades, Télémaque explored collage, assemblage, charcoal drawing, and sculpture. His works, present in major public collections, were the subject of a retrospective at the Centre Pompidou in 2015. He passed away in Paris in 2022, hailed as one of the most unique artists of his generation.

Choosing a Work by Hervé Télémaque

• His original signed lithographs encapsulate his entire vocabulary: clear forms, bold colors, and objects to decipher.
• They captivate art enthusiasts of the 1960s and narrative figuration.
• Each work offered by the gallery is precisely described and sold with an invoice-certificate.

Hervé Télémaque at Galerie 125

The original lithograph signed Composition, presented above, has already found a buyer. Télémaque's works arrive as acquisitions are made: check this page regularly, each piece is carefully shipped, tracked, and insured. Other narrative figuration artists to discover: Valerio Adami and Jacques Poli.

Do you own a work by Hervé Télémaque and wish to sell it? Learn how to proceed on our Sell a Work page.