Henri Michaux: The Mescaline Drawings

12 Feb – 4 Jun 2025 
Gilbert and Ildiko Butler Drawings Gallery, Floor 1

Included with Permanent Collection ticket.

This display celebrates the unique Mescaline Drawings by the Franco-Belgian poet and visual artist, Henri Michaux (1899-1984).  

In January 1955, as part of an experiment prompted by his publisher, Michaux tried the psychedelic drug mescaline, a product derived from the Mexican peyote cactus. The aim of the experiment was to investigate the effect of this type of non-addictive drug on the creative act. Michaux considered these experiences to be a portal into the inner workings of the mind

The investigation transformed Michaux’s artistic life and provoked an outpouring of writings and distinctive drawings during the 1950s and 1960s, the latter being at the centre of this exhibition. Created after the effects of mescaline (and at times other drugs such as hashish, LSD, and psilocybin) had passed, the drawings are the astonishing transcriptions of the artist’s sensation, rendered as if by a sort of shuddering seismograph. 

This display, which presents works rarely seen in the UK, showcases Michaux’s extraordinary experience, one that pushed the limits of what the essence of drawing is.

The programme of displays in the Gilbert and Ildiko Butler Drawings Gallery is generously supported by the International Music and Art Foundation, with additional support from James Bartos.