Henri Cueco

Henri Cueco (19 October 1929 – 13 March 2017) was a French painter, essayist, novelist and radio personality. As a self-taught painter, his work was exhibited internationally. He was the author of several books, including collections of essays and novels. He was also a contributor to France Culture. A communist-turned-libertarian, he was a co-founder of Coopérative des Malassis, an anti-consumerist artists' collective. He was best known for The Red Men, a series of figurative paintings depicting aspects of the Cold War like the May 1968 events, the Vietnam War and Red Scare, and his 150 still lifes, or "portraits," of potatoes. Henri Cueco was born on 19 October 1929 in Uzerche, Corrèze, a rural part of France. His father, Vicente Cueco, was an immigrant from Spain. His mother was French. He was essentially self-taught, though his father also taught him how to paint from the age of 13. Cueco began his career as a landscape painter in the 1950s. He became a figurative painter, associated with the school of Nouvelle figuration in 1960s. His artwork was political, and he was a critic of materialism and minimalism. He did paintings of hunting dogs and snakes, followed by 150 still lifes, or "portraits," of potatoes. In 1969–1970, Cueco co-founded an artists collective called Coopérative des Malassis with Lucien Fleury, Jean-Claude Latil, Michel Parré and Gérard Tisserand. Together, they designed a politically satirical fresco called Le Grand Méchoui in 1972. They designed Qui…