If Raoul Ubac (1910 - 1985) comes directly from surrealism (he collaborates with Minotaure), abandons photography the day he discovers a material in his hand, the slate. The incised stone will be present everywhere in his work dominated by this deep gray. He engraves it, this slate, more and more deeply, until it becomes a real relief. Organizations of signs and grooves are born, which he also enjoys tracing on the sand of a beach, during a film produced by Aimé. At the Maeght Gallery, he exhibited from 1950 until his death, his abstract canvases, his slates cut and engraved and illustrates many works: Pierre écrite by Yves Bonnefoy, Ancienne éternité by Christian Dotremont, Vieux pays by André Frénaud. He also knew how to express a deep spirituality in the Way of the Cross in the Foundation's chapel. Raoul Ubac, Trois torses ,slatee, 60 x100 cm.
During a vacation, Ubac and his wife Aguy welcome Florence and Yoyo to their house in Dieudonne. The sculptor explains the foundations of his work and the role of the Furrows in the middle of the fields of Picardy. For the Maeghts, always surrounded by the most unexpected animals, Ubac carves the slate "tombstone" of their raptor, a small duke named Philo by Jacques Prévert. At the end of his life, encouraged by Adrien, and always curious to experiment with new techniques, he revived his Photographs of the thirties in a portfolio printed in phototype.Raoul Ubac drawing on the sand in 1972 at Hardelot-Plage, Pas-de-Calais. Excerpt from the film Ubac, a portrait by Clovis Prévost.
