French artist and poet Camille Bryen (1907–1977) is usually, and always very briefly, cited as a member of the post-Second World War (1939–1945) lyrical abstraction trend in Paris, often designated as Ecole de Paris or Nouvelle Ecole de Paris, Tachisme, or Informel. Bryen painted hybrids of plants, animals, rocks, and humans, mixing the organic with the inorganic, evoking cellular agglomerations, geological structures, or prehistorical drawings. He emphasized the materiality and the process through thick impasto, visible brushstrokes, and automatic drawing. Along with other abstract painters in post-war Paris, Bryen’s work is usually associated with vague humanist interpretations and oversimplified existentialism. If the above statement is true for a number of his peers, it does not correspond to the way he envisaged his art, and art in general. His views are reflected in his intense theoretical reflection revolving around the term of “Abhumanism”, too often completely ignored in the critical literature. Coined by his close friend, the playwright and writer Jacques Audiberti, Abhumanism claimed the inconsistency of a fallacious and pretentious humanism faced with the rawness and cruelty of recent history, and called for a revision of the humanist subject, including anthropocentrism. Both men considered art, namely painting, as a salvatory vitalist “abhumanist” act. In this paper, which is the first consistent publication on Bryen in English, I will argue that Abhumanism is essential for the understanding of the artist’s work because, separating him from the School of Paris, it is, first, harmonious with his artistic production—paintings and writings; second, it clarifies Bryen’s place in the history of the avant-garde, in the wake of Dada and Surrealism. This essay will contribute to the re-evaluation not only of Bryen’s still underestimated œuvre, but more largely to the reappraisal of the artistic life in Paris after the Second World War.

中文翻译：

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Camille Bryen 先锋派/非人类主义者：对一位自称“最知名的未知”艺术家的重新评价

法国艺术家和诗人卡米尔·布赖恩 (Camille Bryen, 1907–1977) 通常被认为是巴黎二战后 (1939–1945) 抒情抽象趋势的一员，通常被称为巴黎高等学院或新高等学院。 de Paris、Tachisme 或 Informel。布赖恩描绘了植物、动物、岩石和人类的混合体，将有机物与无机物混合在一起，让人联想到细胞团块、地质结构或史前图画。他通过厚涂、可见的笔触和自动绘图强调了物质性和过程。与战后巴黎的其他抽象画家一样，布赖恩的作品通常与模糊的人文主义解释和过于简单的存在主义联系在一起。如果上述陈述对他的许多同龄人来说是正确的，那么这与他对艺术和一般艺术的设想方式并不相符。他的观点反映在他围绕“非人文主义”一词的强烈理论反思中，在批评文献中经常被完全忽视。由他的密友、剧作家兼作家雅克·奥迪贝蒂（Jacques Audiberti）创造的非人文主义声称，面对近代历史的原始和残酷，一种谬误和自命不凡的人文主义自相矛盾，并呼吁修正人文主义主题，包括人类中心主义。两人都认为艺术，即绘画，是一种拯救生命主义的“非人类主义”行为。在这篇论文中，这是关于布赖恩的第一篇一致的英文出版物，我将论证非人文主义对于理解这位艺术家的作品至关重要，因为将他与巴黎学派分开，首先，它与他的艺术创作相协调——绘画和文字；第二，在达达主义和超现实主义之后，它阐明了布赖恩在前卫艺术史上的地位。这篇文章不仅有助于重新评估布赖恩仍然被低估的作品，而且更重要的是有助于重新评估二战后巴黎的艺术生活。