ALBERT BITRAN (1931-2018) - Lot 39

ALBERT BITRAN (1931-2018) "Composition", 1972, Oil on paper mounted on canvas. H 100 x W 73 cm "We thank the artist's daughters Hélène de Panafieu-Bitran and Mariane Spang-Hanssen-Bitran for confirming the authenticity of this work." "The work will be included in the artist's catalog raisonné currently being prepared by Mesdames Hélène de Panafieu-Bitran, Mariane Spang-Hanssen and Clotilde Scordia". Albert Bitran was a French painter, engraver and sculptor, born on December 25, 1931 in Istanbul, Turkey, and died on November 9, 2018 in Paris. Born in Istanbul, Albert Bitran studied at the Collège Saint-Michel in Istanbul. At the age of 17, he came to Paris to study architecture, which he soon abandoned to devote himself to painting. In 1958, Albert Bitran married, obtained French nationality and moved to rue des Plantes and Rigny-le-Ferron in the Aube region, where he had a ceramics studio. He also spent long periods in Italy, where he worked and exhibited. In Paris, it was Jean Pollack in particular who showed his work in numerous exhibitions at Galerie Ariel. In the 1960s, Bitran developed the themes of "L'Atelier" and "Intérieur-Extérieur" in drawings, marouflaged papers and oils. Since 1962, he has also worked in engraving and lithography, first with Mourlot, then with Bellini and Leblanc. In 1968, he moved to rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs in Montparnasse, where he lived and worked until 2000. From 1970 onwards, he created the "Doubles", an analytical interrogation of his painting. In the early 1980s, Bitran set up his studio in the Lot region of France, where he worked for many months, experimenting with oil-on-paper and cardboard techniques. He created the "Grandes Formes" that Patrick Bongers chose for his first exhibition of paintings at Galerie Louis Carré in 1987. Other one-man shows followed: in Switzerland in 1986, Galerie Numaga, Auvernier; in Denmark in 1988, Galerie Brix, Copenhagen; in Germany in 1990, Galerie Boissérée, Cologne; in Japan in 1990, Art Point, Tokyo; in the United States in 1992, Galerie Louis Stern, Los Angeles. A retrospective exhibition was held at the Musée de Campredon, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, in 1991.