Abstract Oil Painting by Nicolai Michoutouchkine (1929-2010)

Nicolai Michoutouchkine was born on 5 October 1929 in Belfort, France to Belarussian parents who immigrated from Russia in 1920, via Gallipoli, Turkey and Bulgaria to France. During 1937-1947, he attended primary and secondary school in Belfort, France, and was initiated into painting by Léon Delarbre.In 1947 he went to Paris, where he studied painting at the Grande Chaumière art school in Montparnasse and also at the Scientific Commercial School where he obtained a commercial diploma. In 1949, he made his first hitchhiking trip to Rome, Italy.Nicolai Michoutouchkine left Paris on 7 August 1953. During the next 4 years, he visited Italy, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, where he met President Camille Chamoun, Egypt, where he met President Muhammad Naguib, Israel and then Jordan where he met the Jordanian King Hussein bin Talal, then Iraq where he met King Faisal, Iran where he met the Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Afghanistan where he met king Zahir Shah, Pakistan and India where he met Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, followed by Nepal where he met the Dalai Lama, Burma where he met the president, Mandalay and Sri Lanka and Ceylon where he met the prime minister Dr. Radarrishnan. He continued then to Singapore and Australia. During these four years, Nicolai organised several exhibitions of his travel drawings and paintings in all the countries he had visited.In August 1957, he received a message from the French authorities informing him that his military service was overdue and that he needed to immediately report to the nearest French authorities. He departed from Sydney and went to New Caledonia, where he arrived on 6 September 1957 in Nouméa. During 1957-1969, Nicolai Michoutouchkine served his military service in Nouméa, as secretary of the Governor of New Caledonia, Mr. Grimald.