1920 b. April 29th. in Antwerp. Belgian Writer Photographer, collagist, filmmaker, poet, essayist, and maker of objects.
1935 Apprenticed to a studio photographer. 1937 Starts correspondence with Rene Magritte and goes to Brussels to meet with him. Participated in the group exhibition Surrealist Objects and Poems in the London Gallery. 1938 Sent Andre Breton a completely altered copy of Nadja, glued, mutilated and overloaded with texts. 1939 Signed up and mobilized in Antwerp. 1940 Collaborated in in the collective works of Rene Magritte and Raoul Ubac. Founded a publishing house L'Aguille Amantee, publishing Moralite du Sommeil by Christian Dotremont and Paul Eluard with illustrations by Rene Magritte; Published Gilbert Senecaux L'Erection experimentale. Participated in the two issues of the journal L’Invention collective edited by Rene Magritte and the photographer Raoul Ubac. Captured near Dunkirk and imprisoned in Silesia 1941 After nine months of captivity, he was released because he was Flemish by birth. Travelled to Brussels by bicycle where he found Rene Magritte, Paul Nouge, Louis Scutenaire, Raoul Ubac and met Christian Dotremont and also Elisabeth Altenloh his love for the next ten years. Split with his family. Published L’oiseau qui n’a qu’une aile ith Magritte reproductions. 1942 Frequently went to Paris clandestinely selling forged paintings by Rene Magritte of Renoir, Pablo Picasso, Fernand Leger, and Giorgio de Chirico. Met Raymond Queneau, Michel Leiris, and Oscar Dominguez 1. Met Paul Eluard, Noel Arnaud, Georges Hugnet and Pablo Picasso. Participates in the publications of La Main a Plume 1943 Wrote and published the very first monograph on Rene Magritte. 1945 First photograph with a distinctive personal vision, De Sade a Lenine.
Started to publish, with Rene Magritte a series of booklets The Imbecile, The Bloody Nuisance and The Enculor. Edited and published La Terre n'est pas une valle de larmes with contibutions from Andre Breton, Rene Char, Paul Colinet, Oscar Dominguez, Christian Dotremont, Paul Eluard, Irene Hamoir, Rene Magritte, Pablo Picasso, Raymond Queneau, Louis Scutenaire,and Raoul Ubac. 1946 and 1947 he contributed to the collection, The Inaccurate Mirror. 1947 Photographed with Rene Magritte, Louis Scutenaire, Paul Nouge and Noel Arnaud at the Congress of communist writers, Antwerp ->. 1948 Ran a secondhand bookhop in Brussels With the Mirror by Elizabeth. 1953 with Camille Goemans, Gerard Van Bruaene, Irene Hamoir, Georgette Magritte, , Louis Scutenaire, Rene Magritte and Paul Colinet. Directed his review Le Ciel Bleu with Christian Dotremont and Paul Colinet Met Jane Graverol who became his partner. Involved in distributing false bank notes on the Belgian coast possibly with the assistance of Rene Magritte and his brother Paul. 1954 worked with Jane Graverol and Paul Nouge, on the review Les Levres Nues (The naked Lips), a subversive, anticlerical and stalinist review. 1959 produced and directed the film, L'Imitation du cinema -> featuring Tom Gutt and which was banned in USA in spite of support from the Kinsey Institute ->. 1962? With Leo Dohmen published a pamphlet â La Grande Baissee, for a major retrospective of the work of Magritte at Knokke Casino purportedly written by Magritte and announcing absurd price reductions of the master's work. Moved to New York. 1965 Finally moved back to Brussels. Around this period met Hedwige Benedix. 1973 Crystal Blinkers translated into English and published by John Lyle. 1979 Published L'Activite Surrealistes en Belgique a chronological record of all the documents, manifestos, tracts and articles pertaining to the group that appeared between 1924 and 1950. 1982 death of his companion Hedwige Benedix. 1985? publishes Women Ajar see pdf -> The English edition was destroyed by Customs. 1993? d. September 19th. in Brussels. See Obituary ->. 1 See "La Reproduction Interdite: Rene Magritte and Forgery" by Patricia Allmer in pdf ->. See wiki -> and bio -> and work ->. See slideshow -> and more -> and more ->and more ->. See Sternarts ~>. See Timeline