Arthur Cravan

Arthur Cravan was a Swiss-born poet, artist and boxer best known for his rebellious and eccentric approach to art and literature. He is widely known for his involvement with Dadaist and avant-garde movements, although he never formally joined them.

Among his notable works was his self-published literary magazine Maintenant! (1911–1915), which became notorious for its scathing art criticism and controversial content. His provocative public performances earned him the admiration of artists such as Marcel Duchamp and Francis Picabia.

Arthur Cravan was born Fabian Avenarius Lloyd on 22 May 1887 in Lausanne, Switzerland, the son of Otho Holland Lloyd and Hélène Clara St. Clair. He was the nephew of the Irish poet Oscar Wilde through his aunt, Constance Mary Lloyd, who greatly influenced his early literary work.

After being educated at an English military academy, Cravan was expelled under mysterious circumstances. He soon began to travel extensively throughout Europe and North America, often using forged documents and claiming to be "a citizen of 20 countries".

Cravan's literary career was marked by controversy and spectacle. In 1911, he began publishing Maintenant!, a critical literary journal designed to shock and provoke the Parisian art scene. Through Maintenant!, Cravan expressed his contempt for contemporary art, declaring: "Art is more in the intestines than in the brain". His public life was equally eccentric, and he often staged performances that combined poetry, boxing and drunken antics. One of the most notable incidents of this period was his attack on a self-portrait of Marie Laurencin at the Paris Art Salon in 1914, which provoked an angry reaction from her lover, the poet Guillaume Apollinaire.

As Europe descended into the First World War, Cravan left Paris to avoid conscription. During a stopover in Barcelona, he famously fought a boxing match against former world champion Jack Johnson. Billed as the "European champion", Cravan was knocked out in the sixth round, with Johnson later remarking that Cravan looked out of shape. This fight exemplified Cravan's bizarre fusion of physical performance and art.

In 1916, Arthur Cravan moved to New York, mingling with avant-garde figures such as Francis Picabia and Duchamp. He met and fell in love with British poet Mina Loy, who later described him as "the love of her life". After a chaotic courtship, the couple married in Mexico in 1918.

At the end of that year, Cravan, trying again to avoid conscription, set sail on a small boat from Salina Cruz, Mexico, and was never seen again. His disappearance remains a mystery, with many believing he drowned in the Pacific Ocean.