Irène Hamoir

Who was Irène Hamoir?

Irène Hamoir was a Belgian novelist and poet, the leading female member of the Belgian surrealist movement. Her poetry was published under the pen name Irine, and she appeared as Lorrie in the writings of her husband, Louis Scutenaire, and the works of René Magritte.

Born in Saint-Gilles, Belgium into a family with ties to the circus, she worked as a secretary. She wrote her first poem, Métallique in 1925. At that time she first became involved with the burgeoning Belgian surrealist group forming around artists such as Magritte, Marc. Eemans, Scutenaire, Marcel Mariën, and Paul Nougé. She married Louis Scutenaire in 1930.

After Scutenaire's death in 1987, she published her recollections of their life together as Ma vie avec Scut. She died in Watermael-Boitsfort in 1994.

Irène Harmoir legated the Belgium Museum of Fine Art with surrealistic works, such as these by Marc. Eemans: http://www.fine-arts-museum.be/nl/de-collectie/marc-eemans-opus-26?string=eemans.