Michèle Herblin
Key points
A French-Quebec artist with a colorful, free and expressive universe
An abstract and impressionist painting, mixing acrylic, pastel, inks and papers
A sensitive approach, nourished by museums, travel and the great names of modern art
Works distributed internationally, in private collections (France, Canada, Australia, Ivory Coast, etc.)
Originally from Provence and living in Quebec for over twenty years , Michèle Herblin embodies a dual artistic affiliation. Her Mediterranean roots and her North American roots intertwine in a luminous, open and resolutely emotional work. Through an impressionist abstraction full of vitality, she offers us a painting that speaks to the soul, nourishes the imagination and soothes the eyes.
A unique trajectory, between art and the world
Next, comfort zone (2023), Michèle Herblin, Acrylic on canvas, 76x76 cm
Michèle Herblin has never separated art from life. An international consultant, she has traveled the world and nourished her vision with encounters, cultures, landscapes, and light. Her art is a reflection of this sensitive and global experience. A self-taught artist, she claims freedom as the foundation of her artistic practice: freedom of forms, gestures, formats, and materials .
She trained in contact with the great masters by tirelessly visiting museums – Cézanne, Monet, Van Gogh, Matisse… – but it was in her exchanges with Nice artists like Arman, César, Sacha Sosno or Téo Tobiasse that her vision sharpened. And it was thanks to the women of the American Abstract Expressionist movement that she finally freed the gesture, leading her towards a more intuitive, more instinctive, but always deeply considered painting.
Works that listen to the moment
What's next? (2021), Michèle Herblin, Acrylic on Canvas, 50x100 cm
Michèle Herblin's painting is a dialogue between the intimate and the universal. She explores moods, impulses of life, and silent hopes. Each canvas is a moment of truth, born of inner reflection and a gestural letting go. Her works speak of joy, light, and energy—but also of questions . For her colors don't just seek to please: they question, resonate, and tell a story that everyone can relate to.
Her technical approach is free and spontaneous: she combines acrylics, pastels, inks, pencils and felt-tip pens with great fluidity. She likes to paint quickly after long phases of mental maturation, and often in series or diptychs to prolong the story and bring the work to life over time .
Among Michèle Herblin's most notable works, What's Next? (2021) opens a sequence that is both chromatic and narrative, where the diptych, created in acrylic and pastel, intensely explores the tension between waiting and vital impulse. This work questions, challenges, while allowing a contained energy to surface. Two years later, Next, Zone de confort (2023) seems to extend this questioning by shifting it towards a more sedate abstraction, dominated by blues and yellows that suggest both anchoring and the irresistible desire to dare. Color then becomes an unstable balancing act between security and risk-taking. Finally, La nuit arrive à petits pas (2024), painted on dense, textured Arches paper, marks a transition towards a more interior, more contemplative expression. Blue, pink, and yellow respond to each other gently, carried by a luminous vibration that soothes. This progression testifies to a deeply coherent artistic journey, where each work, while having its own voice, subtly dialogues with the previous ones.
Why his work appeals to collectors
Night is coming slowly (2024), Michèle Herblin, Acrylic on Paper, 76x56 cm
What makes Michèle Herblin's work particularly appealing is her ability to combine immediate emotion with narrative depth . Each canvas is an invitation to reinterpretation, to personal projection. Far from a fixed or authoritarian art, hers is alive, generous, adaptable to each perspective. This openness makes her works particularly valuable in today's world, where art must also be a refuge, a mirror, or a springboard.
Add to this a great consistency in her career, a clear evolution towards larger formats, international distribution (France, Monaco, Australia, Canada, Ivory Coast, etc.), and a strong desire to make art accessible in everyday places. This makes Michèle Herblin an artist whose universe naturally finds its place in varied collections, both private and professional .
Michèle Herblin paints a world where color becomes language, where each canvas exudes freedom, and where emotion remains at the heart of the process. Her sincere approach, her atypical career path, and her ability to create open, accessible, and profound art make her an artist to watch closely today.
FAQ – Michèle Herblin
Where does Michèle Herblin live and work?
She has lived in Quebec for over twenty years, after growing up in Provence. There, she finds endless inspiration amidst nature, light, and freedom.
What is his artistic style?
Her painting is at the crossroads of abstraction, impressionism, and expressionism. She embraces an open, intuitive, and colorful approach.
What makes his works unique?
Each work is a space of freedom for the viewer, an invitation to feel, to imagine, to interpret. The mixed use of media, the richness of colors and the spontaneity of gesture give his paintings an immediate sensory intensity.
Why be interested in his work today?
Because it reflects a growing need for vibrant, emotional, and free art. Michèle Herblin creates works that accompany, comfort, or inspire—works that are both intimate and universal, constantly resonating with our times.
Nicolas Sarazin
| ArtMajeur Magazine
