artist/ Bitran
France
Born in Istanbul in 1931, Albert Bitran is a French painter, engraver and sculptor. His work is rigorously constructed between the formal elements of geometric abstraction and lyrical abstraction. A true link between East and West, Albert Bitran oscillates between Mediterranean culture and the artistic sensibility of Northern Europe, where his work is particularly appreciated.
Albert Bitran studied at Saint-Michel College in Istanbul, before moving to Paris at the age of 17 to study architecture, which he soon abandoned in favour of painting. He immersed himself in the artistic effervescence of post-war Paris.
When he had his first solo exhibition of his geometric works in 1951 at the Galerie Arnaud, a meeting place for the avant-garde in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, he was only 20 years old, and he took part in a number of events, including the first abstract art exhibition in Caracas and “Divergences” in Paris at the Théâtre de Babylone. In 1954, he exhibited at the Denise René gallery; Henri-Pierre Roché wrote the preface to the catalogue – he opened his prestigious collection to him and rented him a room on Boulevard Arago where he painted.
Leaving geometric abstraction behind, Bitran turned to the research painting he would pursue all his life. He spent long periods in the South of France and his first studies were on the theme of landscape, a theme that enabled him to take part in the “L’Envolée lyrique” exhibition at the Musée du Midi in Paris.
In 1958, Albert Bitran married and obtained French nationality. He moved to rue des Plantes in Rigny-le-Ferron, Aube, where he had a ceramics workshop. He also spent long periods in Italy, where he worked and exhibited. In Paris, it was mainly Jean Pollack who showed his work in numerous exhibitions at the 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 1961, Borge Birch held Bitran’s first solo exhibition in Scandinavia at his gallery in Copenhagen. From then on, the northern countries he often visited showed a great interest in his work, as did the Netherlands, where he exhibited regularly, first at Nova Spectra in The Hague and then, from 1971, in Amsterdam at Martin de Boer’s gallery.
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, where he worked for many months, experimenting with oil techniques on paper and cardboard. He created the “Grandes Formes” that Patrick Bongers chose for his first exhibition of paintings at the Galerie Louis Carré in 1987.
Other solo exhibitions followed in Switzerland, Denmark, Germany and the United States, and a retrospective exhibition was held at the Musée de Campredon in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in 1991.
In 2013, the Centre Pompidou presented a painting from his collection, Un soleil neuf (1960), as part of the “Modernités plurielles” exhibition, which was later shown at the Fondation Clément in Martinique as part of the “Le Geste et la Matière” exhibition.
In 2000, Bitran left Montparnasse for Montrouge, where he built his house and studio. He died on 9 November 2018 in Paris.
