Henri Maïk

Henri Hecht Maïk is the son of illustrator and engraver Joseph Hecht. Maïk defines himself as a primitive painter, not a naïve painter. In many ways, Henri Maïk's paintings are paradoxical, at once familiar and strange, childlike and sophisticated, calm and expressive of color. They are dreamlike landscapes, teeming with fields of simple flowers, exotic trees, rare birds, and jungle animals. In a Maïk painting, we enter a community of creatures.

In 1964, Wally Findlay recognized his talent and organized his first exhibition in the United States, in Palm Beach, Florida. It was the first of a long series of successful exhibitions presented at the Wally Findlay galleries in New York, Chicago, Palm Beach, Beverly Hills, and Paris.

The Musée de l'Art Moderne de Paris presented Henri Maïk's paintings in 1966, 1967, and 1968 as part of an exhibition of sacred art. The Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris presented his paintings in 1966 and 1967. Maïk's work received critical acclaim during exhibitions at the Abbaye de Salins-les-Bains (Jura) in 1965 and at the Galerie Johnson in Usès (Gard) in 1966.

In 1968, he was honored with an exhibition at the Maison de la Culture in Argenteuil.