Alexandre Istrati

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Alexandre Istrati (born March 9, 1915 in Dorohoi , Romania , † October 28, 1991 in Paris ) was a Romanian - French painter and representative of the Nouvelle École de Paris , Informel and lyrical abstraction .

Life

Istrati started painting when she was nine. In the years 1932 to 1937 he completed a law degree at the University of Bucharest , which he graduated in 1937 with the "diploma de licență" (BA) . At the same time, he studied painting with Camil Ressu and received his diploma at the Bucharest Art Academy in 1938, where he taught as a professor until 1947. In 1939 he married the Romanian painter Natalia Dumitresco , a student of Franz Sirató at the same academy. From 1941 to 1946 he exhibited his work mainly in Bucharest.

Through the agency of the French Institute of Bucharest, Istrati and Dumitresco received a scholarship from the French state for further studies, so he and his wife were able to move to Paris in 1947, where they arrived at Gare de Lyon on October 9th .

Via Georges Théodorescu, a Romanian scholarship holder for sculpture, the couple met the sculptor Constantin Brâncuși on October 19, 1947. At his suggestion, they moved into a studio next to his on Impasse Ronsin. During their studies with André Lhote and at the École des Beaux-Arts , they visited the sculptor every Sunday. The friendly cooperation lasted until his death in 1957. They became his sole heirs and in 1958 built their own studio on a piece of land they had left behind. In 1965, Istrati and his wife received French citizenship. At the beginning of the 1960s, Istrati and Dumitresco developed a friendly relationship with Heinz Fuchs , director of the Kunsthalle Mannheim, and Margarete Lauter's family . Since 1965/66, the Lauter Gallery has supported both artists through numerous solo and group exhibitions and made their works known in the German cultural area.

Gravestone on the Cimetière Montparnasse by Constantin Brâncuși, Natalia Dumitresco and Alexandre Istrati

As Brâncuși's universal heirs, the couple gave the works of their studio to the French state. Together with his wife, Istrati planned a reconstruction of the Atelier Brâncuși in the Center Georges Pompidou , which was inaugurated in 1977. Together with Pontus Hultén they wrote a biography about their friend Brâncuși, which was published in 1986.

The married couple Natalia Dumitresco and Alexandre Istrati, like Constantin Brâncuși, found their final resting place in the Montparnasse cemetery . A common tombstone bears their three names.

plant

In the 1940s and early 1950s, Istrati developed a painting that is built on a compositional framework of compact color forms and whose surfaces, bordered by lines, are painted in an impressionistic style. A similar view of the image can be found in Serge Poliakoff , with whom Istrati was friends and who, like Istrati, is part of the École de Paris . Under the impression of American Abstract Expressionism and the Drip Paintings of Jackson Pollock , Istrati began to consistently dissolve the forms in his painting. Line abbreviations, tachistic brushwork and gestural flow forms now increasingly determine the painting surface. The colors are becoming increasingly darker, more spatial. At the end of the 1950s, Istrati then developed a dualistic painting principle that was to remain decisive for the next few decades. He now increasingly arranges his picture structure from linear elements, form indications or open line formations, which always compete with lyrical color zones and flowing color surfaces. This creates compositions that can best be defined as lyrical worlds of color, always in a specific color tone. Depending on the brightness and choice of color, optically positive or more atmospheric images are created. Some pictures are reminiscent of natural organisms or biological forms of growth.

Awards

  • 1939: Salonul Oficial , Bucharest
  • 1953: Prix ​​Kandinsky , Paris
  • 1957: Lissone , Milan
  • 1957: Carnegie , Pittsburgh

literature

  • Natalia Dumitresco, Alexandre Istrati : Kunsthalle Mannheim, Jan. 26 to February 24, 1963.
  • Pontus Hulten , Natalia Dumitresco , Alexandre Istrati: Brancusi , Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-608-76226-4
  • 20 Œuvres de Natalia Dumitresco 1915–1997 ; 18 œuvres de Alexandre Istrati, 1915–1991 . Drouot Richelieu, July 6, 1999
  • Michel Seuphor , Dictionnaire de la peinture abstraite , Paris, 1957
  • Alexandre Istrati  : Galerie Margarete Lauter , Mannheim, March 11 to April 13, 1966. OCLC 997380822
  • Eugène Ionesco : Alexandre Istrati , Daniel Gervis Gallery, Paris 1968
  • Alexandre Istrati , Cavalero Gallery, Cannes 1969
  • Alexandre Istrati. Pictures, drawings and graphics , Lauter Gallery, Mannheim, June 6 to July 31, 1975. OCLC 600899769
  • Natalia Dumitresco: peintures 1950-1987; Alexandre Istrati: peintures 1954-1987 , Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris 16 septembre-16 octobre 87.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Pontus Hultén, Natalia Dumitresco, Alexandre Istrati: Brancusi , Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1986, p. 239
  2. ↑ 18, rue Sauvageot, 75014 Paris
  3. ↑ In many conversations and friendly encounters, the son of Margarete and Harro Lauter and later museum director, Rolf Lauter , was able to gain important insights into the work positions of the artists and the work philosophy of Brâncuși .
  4. ↑ Alexandre Istrati. Retrieved March 1, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Lauter gallery: Alexandre Istrati. Retrieved February 23, 2020 .
  6. ↑ So also at various art fairs. ArtFacts: Galerie Lauter. Retrieved February 23, 2020 .
  7. ^ Catalog Center Georges Pompidou , Paris 1981, Catalog Musée des Arts Décoratifs , Paris 1987: Alexandre Istrati. galeriehilt.ch, accessed on October 16, 2009 .
  8. ↑ Photo of the tombstone
  9. ↑ Michel Seuphor: Dictionnaire de l'art abstrait. WorldCat.org, accessed February 11, 2020 .
  10. ^ Gallery Margarete Lauter: Alexandre Istrati . Manheim 1966 ( online [accessed February 11, 2020]).
  11. ^ Eugène Ionesco: Alexandre Istrati. WorldCat.org, accessed February 11, 2020 (French).
  12. ^ Rolf Lauter : Alexandre Istrati. Galerie Lauter, accessed February 11, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Musée des Arts Décoratifs (ed.): Alexandre Istrati: peintures 1954-1987 . Paris 1987, ISBN 978-2-901422-04-4 ( worldcat.org [accessed February 23, 2020]).
personal data
SURNAME Istrati, Alexandre
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Romanian-French painter and representative of the Informel
DATE OF BIRTH March 9, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Dorohoi , Romania
DATE OF DEATH October 28, 1991
Place of death Paris , France