Orphaned at a very young age by a father with numerous relationships, Eugène Gabritschevsky was placed with a foster family at the age of nine, separated from his relatives, of whom he lost all trace. At eleven, he was already working and only briefly attended school before becoming a laborer in steelworks for more than twenty years.
Admitted to a hospital in 1933 in a state of prostration and subject to hallucinations, he only began drawing between 1937 and 1938. His works, preserved by Dr. Paul Bernard, were revealed in 1948. He made his drawings in graphite and colored pencil, often on wrapping paper. Sometimes, he traced images from illustrated magazines, which he transformed and inventively incorporated into his compositions.
Extremely humble, he described himself as “a poor fool,” as he did when he met Jean Dubuffet, who nevertheless admired his work.
END paul
