Pinchus Krémègne, aka Pinchus Kremegne (; ; 28 July 1890 – 5 April 1981), was a Lithuanian Belarusian Jewish-French artist, primarily known as a sculptor, painter and

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...

Biography and Art

He was a native of Zhaludak near

Lida Lida is a city in Grodno Region, western Belarus, located west of Minsk. It serves as the administrative center of Lida District. As of 2025, it has a population of 103,262. Etymology The name ''Lida'' arises from its Lithuanian name ''Ly ...

, now Belarus, and was a friend of both

Chaïm Soutine Chaïm Soutine (; ; ; 13 January 1893 – 9 August 1943) was a French painter of Belarusian-Jewish origin of the School of Paris, who made a major contribution to the Expressionist movement while living and working in Paris. Inspired by clas ...

and

Michel Kikoine Michel Kikoïne (; , ''Michail Kikóin''; 31 May 1892 – 4 November 1968) was a Lithuanian Jewish-French painter who belonged to the Ecole de Paris art movement. Life Kikoine was born in Rechytsa, present-day Belarus. The son of a Jewish b ...

. He studied sculpture at the

Vilnius Academy of Art The Vilnius Academy of Arts (, previously ''State Art Institute of Lithuania'') in Vilnius, Lithuania, grants a variety of degrees in the arts. History The Academy traces its roots back to the creation of the Architecture Department at Viln ...

. He became a target of the

pogrom A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century Anti-Jewis ...

s because he was a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

and fled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1912. In Paris, Krémègne joined the group of painters of

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. It is split betwee ...

and soon became one of the respected residents of La Ruche. In 1915, he gave up sculpture in order to dedicate himself to painting. It was he who encouraged Soutine to come to Paris. In Montparnasse he met several other prominent Jewish painters of the School of Paris including Isaac Frenkel and

. He left Paris to live in a small town in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

called Ceret. This village, which is a little inland from

Collioure Collioure (; , ) is a commune in the southern French department of Pyrénées-Orientales. Geography The town of Collioure is on the Côte Vermeille (Vermilion Coast), in the canton of La Côte Vermeille and in the arrondissement of Céret. ...

, attracted other painters such as Soutine. Although Soutine did not like the town very much, he completed many paintings there over a couple of years. He never settled but his compatriot Krémègne had a house built there around 1960. This small unassuming house, a reflection of the man himself, is nestled into the mountain and overlooks the village. There was a falling out between the two men perhaps stemming from some ingratitude shown by Soutine towards a mutual 'mecene' or benefactor who had helped out the two impoverished artists during their early careers in Paris. Krémègne's house has new occupants and it is called ''La Miranda del Convent''. Later Ceret was to attract other painters such as

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

. The Picasso walk meanders by Krémègne's house and Ceret has an important museum exhibiting artists such as

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

, and others. There are a few Krémègne paintings on exhibition there as well. Krémègne died in Ceret.

Legacy

Underestimated as an artist today, he is overshadowed by Soutine and

Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...

. He was remembered with a posthumous one-man show in the ''Quartier Les Halles'' in Paris in the 1990s. A more structured vision of nature than Soutine's, Krémègne's last paintings prefigure the work of painters such as

Leon Kossoff Leon Kossoff (10 December 1926 – 4 July 2019) was a British figurative painter known for portraits, life drawings and cityscapes of London, England. Early years and education Kossoff was born in Islington, London, and spent most of his early ...

and

Frank Auerbach Frank Helmut Auerbach (29 April 1931 – 11 November 2024) was a German-born British painter. Born in Germany to Jewish parents, he became a naturalised British subject in 1947. He is considered one of the leading names in the School of Lo ...

in England.

Selected works in public collections

In France * Béziers, Museum of Fine Arts, Nude Blonde (the painter's wife), oil on canvas. * Céret, Museum of Modern Art, four drawings, ten oil paintings including The Studio and The Entrance of the Capuchins, donation by Pinchus Krémègne. * Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire, Loire Museum, Maquis, View of Céret, Landscape near Céret, oil on canvas. * Granville, Richard-Anacréon Museum of Modern Art, Landscape, oil on canvas. * Grenoble, Grenoble Museum, Basket of Fish, oil on canvas. * L'Isle-Adam, Museum of Art and History Louis-Senlecq, Village, print. * Paris, Museum of Jewish Art and History, Portrait of a Woman, oil on canvas, around 1930. * Toulouse, Augustins Museum, Landscape, around 1944, The Dining Room, before 1948, oil on canvas. In UK * Troyes, Museum of Modern Art, Still Life, oil on canvas, donation by Pierre Lévy. * Cardiff, National Museum, Houses in Corsica, oil on canvas, donation by Gwendoline and Margaret Davies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kremegne, Pinchus 1890 births 1981 deaths People from Lida district Belarusian Jews Modern painters Jewish Russian painters Jewish Russian sculptors Jewish French painters Jewish French sculptors Jewish painters Jewish sculptors 20th-century Belarusian painters Belarusian sculptors 20th-century Russian painters Russian male painters 20th-century Russian sculptors 20th-century Russian male artists Russian male sculptors 20th-century French painters French male painters Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France School of Paris Vilnius Academy of Arts alumni 20th-century French sculptors French male sculptors Jewish School of Paris