Sam Szafran (19 November 1934 – 14 September 2019) was a French artist. He has been buried in the cimetière parisien de Bagneux.

Biography

Sam Szafran was born in Paris in 1934, a son of Polish Jewish immigrants. He grew up in the Quartier des Halles. As a child, he knew that art was what he wanted to do. During World War II he was hidden in the countryside and later in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, but returned to Paris in 1944 to live with his mother. He was captured there by the Nazis and sent to a camp in Drancy. He was freed by the Americans and then left Europe, spending four years in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He returned to Paris in 1951. Following abstract beginnings at the Atelier de la Grande Chaumière, where the young artist studied under

Henri Goetz Henri Bernard Goetz (September 29, 1909 – August 12, 1989) was a French American surrealist painter and engraving, engraver. He is known for his artwork, as well as for inventing the carborundum printmaking process. His work is represented in m ...

, he discovered pastel in the early 1960s. During the postwar period he encountered as well

Jean Arp Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as Jean Arp in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter, and poet. He was known as a Dadaist and an abstract artist. Early life Arp was born in Straßburg (now Stras ...

, Yves Klein, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Joan Mitchell,

Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draftsman and printmaker. Beginning in 1922, he lived and worked mainly in Paris but regularly visited his hometown Borgonovo to see his family and ...

Henri Cartier-Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson (; 22 August 1908 – 3 August 2004) was a French humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as cap ...

and Martine Franck. In 1963 he married the Swiss-born Lilette Keller, and their son Sébastien was born the following year. After spending several years in studios provided by their friends, they finally moved to Malakoff in 1974.

Artwork

The discovery of the pastel was of great significance to Sam Szafran. Since the beginning of the 1960s he has been using the pastel chalks of "Pastels Roché" which were fabricated based on the family recipe by the three sisters of the Roché-family at the Maison du Pastel. From now on this technique has been dominating his work either alone or in combination with charcoal or watercolor. At the same time the themes of his paintings intensified as well.Vgl. Daniel Marchesseau, Le Pavillon Szafran, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny, 2005. The numerous series of staircases, jungle-like greenhouses and studios ("Ateliers") are the result of his obsession with mastering perfectly the somewhat anachronistic technique of pastel. By focusing on figurative themes and technical precision this kind of painting contradicts most of the abstract and gestural tendencies of contemporary art; this is an art beyond concepts, trends and ephemeral styles. As a result, the artist's work has rarely been seen in exhibitions and almost exclusively in his home country and in Switzerland. In 1993, he received the Grand Prix des Arts de la Ville de Paris. First retrospectives were organized by Jean Clair and Jean-Louis Prat in 1999 and 2000 at the Fondation Pierre Gianadda in Martigny/ Switzerland and at the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. The first exhibition in a Paris Museum was held in 2001 at the Musée de la Vie romantique ("L'atelier dans l'atelier"). In 2008, two of his pastels were shown at the exhibition "Le mystère et l'éclat / Mystery and Glitter. Pastels from the Musée d'Orsay" at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. In 2011, he was awarded the 3rd Prix Piero Crommelynck. In December 2019, Sothebys sold Szafran's Imprimerie Bellini for €876,000 from the Louis-Dreyfus Family Collection. SamSzafran01

Exhibitions

* ''Sam Szafran, dessins'', Galerie Jacques Kerchache, Paris, 1965 (catalogue text by

Pierre Schneider Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

) * ''Sam Szafran, pastels'', Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris, 1972 (catalogue texts by

Fouad El-Etr Fouad may refer to: People with the single name * Fuad I of Egypt (1868-1936), also spelled Fouad, sultan and later king of Egypt * Fuad II of Egypt (born 1952), deposed infant king of Egypt Fictional characters *Fouad (Family Guy), character in Am ...

, Jean Paget and

Georges Schéhadé Georges Schehadé (2 November 1905 – 17 January 1989) was a Lebanese playwright and poet writing in French. Life and career Georges Schehadé was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in an aristocratic Greek orthodox family of Lebanese origin but spent ...

) * ''Sam Szafran, pastels'', Galerie Artek, Geneva, 1974 (catalogue text by Fouad El-Etr) * ''Sam Szafran, fusains'', Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris, 1976 (catalogue text by James Lord) * ''Sam Szafran, pastels'', Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris, 1987 (catalogue text by

Jean Clair Jean Clair () is the pen name of Gérard Régnier (born 20 October 1940 in Paris, France). Clair is an essayist, a polemicist, an art historian, an art conservator, and a member of the Académie française since May, 2008.Éric Biétry-Riviérr ...

) * ''Sam Szafran, aquarelles'', Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris, 1987 (catalogue text by James Lord) * ''Sam Szafran, dessins & pastels'', Caja Iberia, Saragosse, 1988 (catalogue texts by

Orlando Pelayo Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures ...

, Jean-Dominique Rey and Henri Cartier-Bresson) * ''Sam Szafran, aquarelles'', Galerie Vallois, Paris, 1992 (catalogue text by Jean Clair) * ''Sam Szafran'',

Fondation Pierre Gianadda Fondation Pierre Gianadda, inaugurated in 1978, administers museums and exhibitions located in Martigny, Switzerland. The permanent exhibitions include the Automobile Museum, Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romaniza ...

, Martigny, 1999; then Fondation Maeght, Saint Paul, 11 February-30 March 2000 (catalogue text by Jean Clair) * ''Sam Szafran'', Musée de la Vie romantique, Hôtel Scheffer-Renan, Paris, 2001 (catalogue texts by

Michel Le Bris Michel Le Bris (1 February 1944 – 30 January 2021) was a French writer. Career He was a specialist on Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottis ...

and

Daniel Marchesseau Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

) * ''The Jacques & Natasha Gelman Collection'', The Met, New York 2004 * ''Sam Szafran'', exhibition at the Pavillon des Arts et du Design, jardin des Tuileries, Galerie Hopkins & Custot, Paris, 2–6 April 2008 * ''Sam Szafran'', "Le mystère et l'éclat", Musée d'Orsay, November 2008 * ''Sam Szafran – Drawings, Pastels, Watercolors'', Max Ernst Museum, Brühl des LVR, 7 November 2010 – 30 January 2011 (catalogue texts in German, French and English, ed. by Julia Drost and

Werner Spies Werner Spies (born 1 April 1937 in Tübingen) is a German art historian, journalist and exhibition organizer. From 1997 to 2000, he was a director of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Klaus Albrecht Schröder, director of the Albertina in Vienn ...

, texts by Markus A. Castor, Jean Clair, Julia Drost, Daniel Marchesseau, Estelle Pietrzyk, Andreas Platthaus and Werner Spies) * ''Sam Szafran, 3rd Prix Piero Crommelynck, estampes'', Galerie de l'Ancien Collège, Châtellerault, June - August 2011 * ''Sam Szafran, Cinquante ans de peinture'', par

& al.

, Martigny, 7 December, 2012 - 16 June, 2013

References

Bibliography

* Jean Clair, "Sam Szafran", Skira, Geneva, 1996. * Daniel Marchesseau,"Sam Szafran, L'atelier dans l'atelier", Musée de la Vie romantique, Hôtel Scheffer-Renan, Paris, 2001 * Daniel Marchesseau, "Le Pavillon Szafran," Martigny,

, 2005. * Daniel Marchesseau, "Henri Cartier-Bresson - La Collection Sam, Lilette et Sébastien Szafran," Martigny, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, 2005. * "Sam Szafran – Drawings, Pastels, Watercolors", cat. ed. by Julia Drost and Werner Spies, Max Ernst Museum, Brühl des LVR, 2010, Düsseldorf: Feymedia 2010 (catalogue texts in German, French and English by Markus A. Castor, Jean Clair, Julia Drost, Daniel Marchesseau, Estelle Pietrzyk, Andreas Platthaus and Werner Spies). * Daniel Marchesseau, "Sam Szafran, Cinquante ans de peinture," exhibition catalogue,

, Martigny, 2012 * Miranda Roman, "Une leçon pour nous tous (A lesson for us all)" in "Sam Szafran, Cinquante ans de peinture," exhibition catalogue,

, Martigny, 2012

Filmography

*
Sam Szafran / Outlaw Painter
'' Directed by Bastien Rokk. B&M Films, 2017.

External links

* Images of Szafran by Magnum Photos, photographer Martine Franck
Magnumphotos
* http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2011/07/14/postcard-from-paris/
Galerie Claude Bernard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Szafran, Sam 1934 births 2019 deaths French artists Alumni of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière French people of Polish-Jewish descent