French, 1870-1950

French painter, illustrator and stage designer, disdaining the traditional art schools, Georges D’Espagnat studied part-time at the Académie Colarossi in Paris under Gustave-Claude-Etienne Courtois and Jean-André Rixens but was mostly self-taught. In 1891, he exhibited at the Salon des Refusés and the following year at the Salon des Indépendants. His early works showed a strong debt to Impressionism. He was a friend of Renoir as well as of Paul Signac, Henri Edmond Cross, Louis Valtat and later Maurice Denis, Bonnard and Vuillard.

After his return to France, from a visit to Morocco in 1898, he concentrated on studies from nature, paintings of women, children and flowers and decorative projects for private patrons. In 1904 he exhibited at the Salon d’Automne, becoming its Vice-President in 1935. In 1906 he illustrated Remy de Gourmont’s book Sixtine, published in Paris. In the early 1910s he painted a number of portraits including several musician friends, including Albert Roussel, by this time his work was more simplified, fluid and intimate. In 1914 he provided the decor for a production of Alfred de Musset’s play Fantasio at the Théâtre de Batignolles in Paris.

After working in a camouflage unit during World War I, d’Espagnat bought a country house in the Quercy region and over the next decade painted numerous landscapes and interiors there. During the 1930s he worked in various media. He illustrated Alphonse Daudet’s L’Immortel (Paris, 1930) and also produced theatre designs. Ironically, considering his earlier attitudes, from 1936 to 1940 he was a professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Though disrupted by World War II, he continued to paint until his death and with his pupil Suzanne Humbert, illustrated Francis Jammes’s Clairières dans le ciel, 1902–1906.

French, 1913-1960

Provenance:

Geneva, Max Canal collection
Zurich, German Sale, 23 November 1977
Private collection
Atlan Family, Hoche, Perigord

Literature:

Polieri, Jacques, Atlan: catalogue raisonné de l’œuvre complet, Ed. Gallimard, Paris 1996, no. 280, reproduced pg. 247

Catalogue, German Sale, Zurich, 1977, no. 13, reproduced

Jean-Michel Atlan was born in Algeria in 1913, but left in 1930 to study philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he worked as a teacher after completing his studies. Due to his Jewish heritage, Atlan lost his teaching license and lived in poverty in during the German occupation, and it was during this time that Atlan taught himself to paint. Due to his contribution to the Résistance, the artist was arrested in 1942 and interned in the Saint-Anne hospital for two years after he had pretended to suffer from a mental disease.

In the sanatorium, Atlan encountered a world beyond the realms of everyday thinking which left a remaining imprint on his work. The philosopher and man of letters, who was friends with Gertrude Stein and Gaston Bachelard, found his way into painting through the rhythmic elements of poetry.

In 1944 the artist had his first exhibition and published a collection of poems entitled 'Le Sang profond'. After a short initial success and recognition by a few Avant-garde writers, the artist once more lived in financial need. During this time, Atlan worked as a peddler and fortune-teller. In 1946 the autodidact was able to present his work to the public alongside great personalities like Braque and Matisse for the first time. From 1945 Atlan produced fantastical, abstract animal shapes which were strongly influenced by the the COBRA group. He participated in exhibitions.

Around 1956 his style was consolidated. Strong, black, winding lines enclosing pastel colored areas, which evoke organic and vegetable associations. In 1956 Atlan achieved his breakthrough as an artist with a poster, he designed for the exhibition of the new 'École de Paris' at the Charpentier gallery and an exhibition at the Bing gallery in Paris.

During the 1950s Atlan received a lot of attention in France, Japan, England and the US and was considered one of the most important exponents of 'Nouvelle École de Paris'. In 1960 the artist died from cancer. In 1963 Jean-Michel Atlan was honored with a retrospective at the Musée National d'Art Moderne. He left approximately 220 works behind, including tapestries and illustrations.