Fragile, sensitive and asthmatic child, Raphaël Lonné left school at twelve. He took on different jobs : tram conductor, concierge, driver, handyman at the hospital. At the same time, he developed a passion for poetry and music, and composed short pieces for parties. He played in small orchestras and drew primarily figurative subjects but without much interest. His colleagues teased him and called him "the poet". He eventually became a postman in a small town in the region.

In the fifties, Lonné participated in spiritualist seances and discovered his true graphic capabilities. Guided by his hand, he worked in a trance and constructed each drawing in the same way, from left to right and from top to bottom, evoking a kind of graphic writing. Over time, his work became increasingly abstract, as if it was taken over, without restraint, by an overwhelming motion.

SEE ALSO :

Lusardy, Martine, ed. Art spirite, médiumnique et visionnaire. Messages d’outre monde. Texts by Roger Cardinal, Laurent Danchin, Martine Lusardy, Bertrand Méheust, Djohar Si Ahmed, Michel Thévoz. Paris : Halle Saint-Pierre & éditions Hoëbeke, 1999.

Publications de la Compagnie de l’Art Brut, fascicule 1. Paris, 1964.

The Message. Kunst und Okkultismus. Art and Occultism, Cologne and Bochum : Kunstmuseum Bochum and Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, 2007.