Composite faces, asymmetrical eyes, dislocated bodies, an accumulation of religious symbols: the work of Michel Macréau (1935–1995) is imbued with pain and strangeness.

An only child, raised by a mother who was a fur saleswoman and a truck-driving father who was always absent, Michel Macréau was shuffled from one foster family to another and had an unstable childhood. As a teenager, he stopped one day in a bookstore in front of two art books: one on Matisse, the other on Picasso. Influenced by these great artists, he began to paint. A color, a foot, a motif, an oversized eye—memories of his models emerge throughout his work.

Through his seemingly primitive figurative style, Michel Macréau is recognized as a precursor of Figuration Libre, in the vein of Basquiat and Combas, whom he preceded and influenced.