Jean-Michel Sanejouand
Jean-Michel Sanejouand (18 July 1934 – 18 March 2021) was a French artist. His work ranged from site-specific art to monumental sculptures, from readymade-like objects, to paintings of oneiric landscapes in which (usually) one of his sculptures stands. During his lifetime, three retrospectives of his work were organized, in Lyon (1986), his birthtown, in Paris (1995), where he lived for thirty years, and in Nantes (2012), in the region where he lived for the rest of his life.
Also recorded as J. M. Sanejouand
Jean-Michel Sanejouand

Succession Sanejouand · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Jean-Michel Sanejouand
- Born
- 18 July 1934
- Birthplace
- Lyon, France
- Died
- 18 March 2021
- Place of death
- Maine-et-Loire, France
- Field
- Sculpture, painting
- Full name
- Jean-Michel Henri Sanejouand.
- Nationality
- France.
- Occupation
- painter, artist and sculptor.
- Known for
- Le Magicien.
- Languages
- French.
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Documentary summary
Jean-Michel Sanejouand (18 July 1934 – 18 March 2021) was a French artist. His work ranged from site-specific art to monumental sculptures, from readymade-like objects, to paintings of oneiric landscapes in which (usually) one of his sculptures stands. During his lifetime, three retrospectives of his work were organized, in Lyon (1986), his birthtown, in Paris (1995), where he lived for thirty years, and in Nantes (2012), in the region where he lived for the rest of his life.
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Note VALÉORINE
Jean-Michel Sanejouand (1934–2021) was a French artist, painter and sculptor. Born Jean-Michel Henri Sanejouand in 6th arrondissement of Lyon, the artist died in Baugé-en-Anjou.
Works include Le Magicien. Languages used include French. Works by Jean-Michel Sanejouand are held at Musée d'art moderne de Paris, Musée National d'Art Moderne and Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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wikidata · Q3168145 · wikipedia · Jean-Michel Sanejouand
In this article
Biography
Biography
The recorded working language is French. Works named in the authority record are Le Magicien. Work by Jean-Michel Sanejouand is recorded in the collections of Musée d'art moderne de Paris, Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and Musée National d'Art Moderne.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Jean-Michel Sanejouand • Born — 18 July 1934 • Birthplace — Lyon, France • Died — 18 March 2021 • Place of death — Maine-et-Loire, France • Field — Sculpture, painting
Biography
Biography
• Illustration — Sanejouand: "Enigme", 2010, acrylic on stones, from the Sculptures series Born in Lyon, France, in 1934, he received a degree in law from the Institut d'études politiques de Lyon in 1955. His work can be encapsulated in a series of distinct periods, which the artist titled. From 1962 to 1967, he worked on a series of readymade-like assemblies of manufactured objects that he called "Charge-Objets" (English: "Charge-Objects"). From 1967 to 1974, he realized or proposed site specific modifications (tree plantings, video projection, windows painted in black, throwing ice blocks on a volcano, etc) that he called "Organisations d'espace" (English: "Space Organizations"), each project, realized or not, being presented with an architectural drawing. In 1968, he started to paint on canvas. First, with indian ink, in black and white, scenes involving carricatural characters -a series called "Calligraphies d'humeur" (1968-1978). In 1978, he started to perform "Organisations d'espace" for imaginary landscapes, which he painted with a colorfull, naive style -a series called "Espaces-Peintures" (1978-1986). These paintings became more and more abstract, until he switched to black and white -a series called "Peintures Noir et Blanc" (1986-1992). In 1989, he started to make projects of monumental structures, each project being done by assembling together a few stones painted in black. Only two of them were realized: "Le Silence" (1996) and "Le Magicien" (2005). In 1996, he started to paint his sculptures -a series called "Sculptures-Peintures" (1996-2001). In 2002, he started to perform "Organisations d'espace" for imaginary landscapes including one of his sculptures, which he painted with a colorfull, highly dynamic style -a series called "Espaces-Critiques" (2002-2008). He died on 18 March 2021 at his home in Maine-et-Loire, France.
Gallery
Gallery
• Illustration — Pèse-pierre, 1963 • Illustration — Toile de bâche à rayures et règle, 1964 • Illustration — Organisation de l'espace de la cour de l'École Polytechnique à Paris - 06/05/1967 • Illustration — 07/06/1973 17h10, indian ink on canvas • Illustration — 22/12/1978, acrylic on canvas • Illustration — 10/07/1982, acrylic on canvas • Illustration — Accord de deux - Ci-devant-après, 1989, acrylic on canvas • Illustration — Brouille-code, 1992, acrylic on canvas • Illustration — Mi-août, 1996, acrylic on canvas • Illustration — Le Baiser, 2000, acrylic on canvas • Illustration — L'intrus, 2003, acrylic on canvas • Illustration — Untitled, 2009, acrylic on paper • Illustration — Enigme, 2010, acrylic on stones
Solo exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
• 1967 "Première organisation d'espace", Ecole Polytechnique (Paris). • 1968 "Deux organisations d'espace", Galerie Yvon Lambert (Paris). • 1973 "Les Organisations d'espace de Sanejouand", Centre National d'Art Contemporain (Paris). • 1979 "Espaces-Peintures", The Antwerp Gallery, FIAC (Paris). • 1982 "Espaces-Peintures", Lens Fine Art Gallery (Antwerp, Belgium). • 1986 "Rétrospective: des Charges-Objets aux Espaces-Peintures", Palais des Beaux-Arts (Lyon, France). • 1991 "Espaces-Peintures 1978-1986", MAC (Villeneuve d'Ascq, France). • 1991 "Les Charges-Objets 1963-1967", Galerie Froment-Putman (Paris). • 1995 "Rétrospective 1963-1995", MNAM Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris). • 1996 "Peintures", Galerie Barbier, FIAC (Paris). • 2002 "Libre et Change", Galerie Chez Valentin (Paris). • 2005 "Sanejouand", Le Plateau (Paris). • 2011 "Espaces et Cie", Galerie MAM, Drawing now, Carrousel du Louvre (Paris). • 2012 "Retrospectivement", Frac des Pays de la Loire (Carquefou), HAB gallery (Nantes), as part of "Jean Michel Sanejouand's year in Pays de la Loire". • 2015 "Un peu d'espace(s)", Galerie Art: Concept (Paris). • 2018 "Beyond color", Galerie Art: Concept (Paris). • 2018 "Operation contact", Galerie Kreo (Paris and London).
Main group exhibitions
Main group exhibitions
• 1967 "Superlund", Lunds Konstall (Sweden). Curator: Pierre Restany. Also featuring: Arman, Christo, Erik Dietman, Yona Friedman, François Morellet, Jean-Pierre Raynaud, Nicolas Schöffer, Constantin Xenakis... • 1976 Venice Biennale, French pavilion (Italy). Curator: Pierre Restany. Also featuring: Fred Forest, Raymond Hains, Alain Jacquet, Bertrand Lavier, Jean-Pierre Raynaud... • 1986 "Qu'est-ce que l'art français?" (What is French art?), Toulouse (France). Curator: Bernard Lamarche-Vadel. Also featuring: Erik Dietman, Robert Filliou, Gérard Garouste, Gérard Gasiorowski, Jacques Villeglé... • 1992 Universal Exposition of Seville, French pavilion (Seville, Spain). • 1999 "Les Champs de la Sculpture" (Sculptures of Champs-Élysées), where "Le Silence" was first exhibited. Also featuring: Tony Cragg, Erik Dietman, Barry Flanagan, Raymond Hains, Keith Haring, Jean-Pierre Raynaud, Bernar Venet, Lawrence Weiner... • 2006 "La force de l'Art", Grand Palais (Paris). Curator: Anne Tronche. • 2012 "Ends of the earth: Land Art to 1974", MOCA (Los Angeles, USA). • 2015 "Cycle des histoires sans fin", MAMCO (Geneva, Switzerland). • 2020 "Platform: Paris/Brussels", David Zwirner's online viewing room.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
6th arrondissement of Lyon.
Birth place
Baugé-en-Anjou.
Death place
Monumental sculptures
• 1996 "Le Silence" (The Silence), a bronze sculpture whose largest version is two meters high. Until 2019, It was installed in a private park of sculptures near Biarritz (France). • 2005 Le Magicien (The Magician), a five-meters high bronze, installed in the gardens of Palais Saint-Georges, close to the railway station of Rennes (France).
Collections
Collections
• Centre Pompidou, Paris • Fonds régional d'art contemporain, Ile de France • Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon • Philadelphia Museum of Art
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Jean-Michel Sanejouand”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3168145: Jean-Michel Sanejouand
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Sanejouand, Jean-Michel. Benezit Dictionary of Artists. 2011. 978-0-19-977378-7.
- 2.Duman, Bertrand. CHARGE-OBJECTS. l'Oeuil. 698. February 2017.
- 3.Herbin, Frédéric. Jean-Michel Sanejouand's Organisations d'espaces: 1967-1974.
- 4.Grosenick, Uta. Insight - Inside: Galerien 1945 bis heute. DuMont. 2005. 978-3-8321-7202-2.
- 5.Disparition de l'artiste Jean-Michel Sanejouand - lejournaldesarts.fr. Le Journal Des Arts.
- 6.Les Organisations d'espaces de Sanejouand, by Pierre Restany, Blaise Gautier and Claude-Louis Renard, Centre National d'Art Contemporain eds, Paris, 1973.
- 7.Jean-Michel Sanejouand : Espaces-Peintures 1978-1986, by Michel Enrici and Joelle Pijaudier, Musée d'Art Moderne de Villeneuve-d'Ascq/La Différence eds, Lille, 1991.
- 8.Jean-Michel Sanejouand : Les Charges-Objets 1963-1967, by Bernard Lamarche-Vadel, Fondation Fine Art of The Century/La Différence eds, Paris, 1990.
- 9.Jean-Michel Sanejouand, Rétrospective 1963-1995, by François Barré, Robert Fleck, Germain Viatte and Fabrice Hergott, Centre Georges Pompidou eds, Paris, 1995.
- 10.Jean-Michel Sanejouand : Retrospectivement, by Anne Tronche and Julie Potier, Skyra eds, Paris, 2012 ( ).
- 11."Les Champs de la Sculpture 2000", Beaux-Arts Magazine, Hors série, Paris.
- 12.Le Magicien — WikiRennes. www.wiki-rennes.fr.
- 13.Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne-Centre. Musée national d'art moderne – Centre Pompidou. Navigart.fr. 28 August 2020.
- 14.Rechercher et voir les oeuvres. www.lescollectionsdesfrac.fr.
- 15.Lyon, Musée d’art contemporain de. Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon. Navigart.fr. 3 December 2020.
- 16.Philadelphia Museum of Art - Collections : Search Collections. www.philamuseum.org.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
- Les organisations d'espaces de Jean-Michel Sanejouand (1967-1974), Frédéric Herbin and Jean-Michel Sanejouand
References
Citations
References
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reference work
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General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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