Henri Hecht Maik (French, 1922-1993), "Dans les Nuages", 1974, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, signed, titled and inscribed "1702" en verso, inscribed "WF B.H. exh. 55809" on stretcher, "Wally Findlay Galleries, Palm Beach, Chicago" label and numbered "55809" on backing board, 36 1/4 in. x 28 5/8 in., framed with artist plaque, overall 44 1/8 in. x 36 3/4 in. x 2 1/4 in.Note: Born in Paris in 1922, Henri Hecht Maik was the son of an illustrator and engraver. In 1940, Maik enlisted in the French Navy as a medical corpsman. He was eventually captured and imprisoned in the Maritime Hospital in Brest until his release in 1942. Awaiting the liberation of France in 1944, Maik worked as a lumberman in Normandy. Following the war, he returned to Paris where he became an actor in film and theater. While he began painting in only 1956, Maik soon became a successful artist, and by 1960, he was featured in his first one-man show in Paris. Maik’s work caught the eye of gallery owner Wally Findlay who introduced the artist to American audiences in 1964 with an exhibition at the Wally Findlay Galleries in Palm Beach, Florida. Several successful exhibitions followed at Wally Findlay Galleries in New York, Chicago, Palm Beach, Beverly Hills and Paris. According to inscribed notes on the stretcher of the work offered here, it was displayed in the Wally Findlay Galleries of Beverly Hills. Maik had a unique and simplistic style that utilized bright colors and childlike figures of animals and people to create worlds with unity among all species. Although his work is reminiscent of naïve art, Maik instead preferred to designate himself as a primitive painter. In this painting, four tigers frolic within a lush, flowering landscape with multicolor trees framing two of the tigers, paw to paw, with one lifted among the clouds. All four tigers stare at the viewer as if questioning the additional presence within their saturated and fanciful landscape.Ref.: “Henry Maik.” Findlay Galleries. www.findlaygalleries.com. Accessed July 25, 2023.