Albert Bitran’s early life and artistic training

Albert Bitran was born in Istanbul on 25 December 1931. Of Sephardic Jewish origin, Bitran grew up surrounded by his family in the city’s commercial district of Pangaltı. With its narrow streets and arcades, the neighborhood would greatly influence Bitran’s imagination when he became a painter. The young artist was also influenced by the sea, which is ever-present in the city of Istanbul. In the summer months, Bitran’s family rented a house on the Princes’ Islands off the coast of Istanbul. A polyglot, Albert Bitran spoke Turkish and French—studying at the Collège Saint-Michel, a French Jesuit school—as well as English and Ladino, a Romance language derived from Old Spanish spoken by Spanish Jews. Bitran’s linguistic fluency and his rich, multicultural upbringing would prove valuable for the artist as he developed his international career.

Bitran developed an interest in painting from the age of 15. At the Institut Français, the young artist consulted books and magazines featuring reproductions of paintings exhibited in Paris and copied paintings created by the masters—Cézanne, Boudin and Manet, among others—that he obtained in the form of postcards. Bitran’s efforts were a success—his first works were bought by the parents of his friends.

The painter Albert Bitran’s arrival in Paris: Friendships & artistic beginnings

After obtaining a double high school diploma in both French and Turkish, Albert Bitran left Istanbul for Paris to study architecture. Barely 17 years old, he arrived in the capital of the arts in September 1948 and settled in Montparnasse, the Parisian neighborhood he had always dreamed of. Bitran immersed himself in the French capital’s vibrant post-war art scene, frequenting the renowned cafés La Coupole and Le Sélect, where he met other Turkish painters such as Mübin Orhon, Selim Turan and Avni Arbaş, as well as Abidin Dino, his elder and dear friend, whom he met later on.

After Montparnasse, Albert Bitran moved to a studio in the American residence in Paris’ Cité Universitaire campus. His new residence was a real hub, bringing together artists from all over the world, including Jesús Rafael Soto from Venezuela, Serge Poliakoff from Russia, Georges Koskas from Tunisia, and Horia Damian from Romania. Koskas and Damian would have a definite influence on the geometric beginnings of Albert Bitran’s work. Bitran quickly abandoned architecture to devote himself exclusively to painting, attending exhibitions and regularly visiting the Musée du Louvre. The painter even passed very quickly through the studio of Fernand Léger. Bitran became close to Koskas and Damian, who were older than him, also visiting the artist couple Maria-Helena Vieira da Silva and Arpad Szenes during this period.

The painter Albert Bitran’s early successes: dealer & patrons

Albert Bitran’s first successes came at the turn of the 1950s. Bitran’s work was exhibited in December 1950 as part of the Salon de l’Art Libre at the Palais des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris—the artist was just 19 years old. In the following year, he was introduced to the art dealer Jean-Robert Arnaud through Koskas. Arnaud had just opened his gallery on Rue du Four in the French capital and was presenting the leading painters of the post-war abstraction movement. With a growing interest in the work of Albert Bitran, the dealer devoted two exhibitions to the artist in 1951 and 1952. Jean-Robert Arnaud also launched the art magazine Cimaise, in which Bitran’s works were featured.
 It was at Arnaud’s gallery that the painter Albert Bitran met the collector and connoisseur Henri-Pierre Roché, who became a patron of the artist. Roché provided Bitran with accommodation and materials in exchange for his works. During this period, Albert Bitran continued to explore geometric abstraction on canvas and paper, using a mixture of watercolour and pencil. Doctor Velti, a Swiss friend of Roché’s, then bought a batch of ten works on paper from the artist. This was followed by an exhibition by Denise René, the “female pope” of geometric abstraction, who presented Albert Bitran in her Parisian gallery on Rue La Boétie in 1954 in a group show entitled Baertling, Breer, Bitran. Roché wrote the preface for the exhibition catalog.

During this period, Bitran began to participate regularly in two Parisian art fairs: the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, which he took part in from 1952 to 1965, and the Salon de Mai, in which he participated every year without exception from 1956 to 1975.

Accompanied by Damian, Bitran traveled to the South of France in July 1955, notably to Saint-Paul-de-Vence. On his return to the French capital, Bitran began to paint abstract landscapes—such as Naissance d’un paysage—in oils with the addition of sand and discarded pieces of paper. The following year, the artist returned to the South of France with Mübin Orhon to continue his work. He also created the stained-glass windows for a church in Schœneck in France’s Moselle region. It was from this point onwards that Bitran abandoned his geometric explorations once and for all. In the winter of 1955, the artist moved into the home of his friends Annie and Claude Lefort, where he had access to a large living room-studio space.

In 1956, Bitran had another decisive encounter, this time with the dealer Jean Pollak, with whom he formed a strong friendship. Director of the Galerie Ariel in Paris, Pollak exhibited the artists of his generation that he supported, first on Avenue de Messine and later on Boulevard Haussmann. These artists included Roger-Edgar Gillet, Jacques Doucet, André Marfaing, Bengt Lindström and members of the Cobra group such as Asger Jorn, Karel Appel and Corneille. He also developed a fascination for the work of Albert Bitran, whom he exhibited and promoted regularly from 1957 onwards, both in solo and group exhibitions.

In 1957, Albert Bitran met another important collector: the actress Jacqueline Delubac. Greatly interested in Bitran’s work, Delubac bought seven paintings from him, including Faune calcaire, which she hung next to a large nude from Picasso’s Blue period in her Paris salon. Delubac later commissioned two other paintings from the artist in 1986. In 1998, Jacqueline Delubac’s donation to the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon gave rise to a major exhibition, De Manet à Bacon. Collection de Jacqueline Delubac, which featured works by Albert Bitran.

Albert Bitran’s atelier works

Soon after obtaining French nationality, Albert Bitran married Claude Ledoux in January 1958. The couple went on to have two daughters: Hélène and Mariane. After a stay in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, they settled in Paris at 26, Rue des Plantes in the 14th arrondissement, an artists’ district. In their new home, Bitran continued to paint landscapes, but also began work on another series on the theme of the studio (atelier). Inspired by his new surroundings, his works on the theme of the Atelier were characterized by certain key elements such as the high skylight, the easel and its top clamp for holding the canvas from above—not forgetting the light flooding his paintings, for example in L’Atelier en pleine lumière. Albert Bitran argued that: “The rhythm is a ‘journey of shadows’.”

Albert Bitran’s early ceramics and engraving work

In the early 1960s, the Bitran couple bought a large building in Rigny-le-Ferron in France’s Aube region to renovate. Part of the property was turned into a painting studio and the barn became a ceramics studio, equipped with a kiln. It was here that Bitran’s ceramic works were made with the help of his wife and their friends, the ceramist Vera Herold and Minouche Pastier. In 1967, Bitran made more ceramics in Albisola, Italy, with the potter Tullio Mazzotti. It was there that he met Wifredo Lam. Bitran’s ceramic works were then exhibited at the Galerie Birch in Copenhagen and at the Randers Museum in Denmark.

At around this time, the artist also began to collaborate with printers, in particular Fernand Mourlot—the Paris-based printer who worked on prints for Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall—and later the Bellini studio. Bitran particularly enjoyed this exercise, which became a practice that he would pursue throughout his work. Several illustrated books were produced, punctuated by Albert Bitran’s engravings, such as L’Atelier by Georges Boudaille, which was published by Impriludes in 1964 and exhibited at the Galerie La Hune in Paris. Another example is Épreuves by Jean-Louis Baudry, which was published and presented by the Galerie La Balance in Brussels in 1966.

International recognition and fame in northern Europe

From the 1960s onwards, Albert Bitran’s work became very well known in Northern Europe in Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Germany, among other countries, where his work was regularly exhibited in galleries and museums. Bitran’s work was first shown in a group exhibition at the Lunds Konsthall in Sweden in 1960. In terms of dealers, Börge Birch, based in Copenhagen, was the primary dealer to promote Bitran’s work in Scandinavia from 1961 onwards. The Galerie Nord, a Danish gallery based in Randers, also promoted the artist’s work, and in the Netherlands, the Galerie Nova Spectra in The Hague also exhibited the painter, dedicating a solo exhibition to his work in 1964. In Amsterdam, the Galerie de Boer presented Bitran’s work from the 1970s onwards. In Cologne, the Galerie Johannes Schilling organized two solo exhibitions of the artist’s work in 1990 and 1993.

The Bitran couple also traveled regularly to Italy, driving down to Rome, where Albert Bitran shared the studio of the painter Marcello Avenali. In Rome, Albert Bitran practiced different techniques, including lithographs and serigraphs, also exploring various works on paper. He exhibited at the Studio Erre during various group exhibitions in the 1970s.

In 1967, Bitran went to Cuba for the Salon de Mayo, at the invitation of Wifredo Lam. In Cuba, Bitran discovered a whole artistic and intellectual community, which included friends such as Cesare Peverelli, Corneille and Philippe Hiquily, among others. As the artist remembered, “We went on visits, we painted a little, we had a nice time.” Together the group created a collective work in situ.

In Paris in the 1960s, Albert Bitran lived at the heart of the art scene, rubbing shoulders with his neighbour Edouard Pignon, as well as Alfred Manessier, Gustave Singier and Pierre Soulages. He also formed a strong friendship Geer van Velde, with whom he exhibited together at the Galerie de Boer in Amsterdam. In 1968, Albert Bitran left his home on Rue des Plantes and moved to Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, where he remained for the next 32 years. Bitran continued his artistic explorations in his new studio, his palette becoming bolder as the artist reflected upon the issue of space. From time to time, Bitran painted on large canvases which he then cut up and fixed on a frame, or he worked on paper which he laid onto the canvas himself.

Albert Bitran’s new themes: doubles and grandes formes

In the 1970s, Albert Bitran tackled the theme of Doubles—a concept that brought together two interpretations of the same pure form in the same painting, inviting the viewer to consider each of the spaces created, both separately and as a whole. As such, reality and our perception of reality were presented on the same canvas.
The artist’s Doubles were exhibited many times, both in Paris at the Galerie Ariel and abroad in Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Austria. In Amsterdam, the Galerie de Boer presented these works in a solo exhibition in 1974.
The Doubles theme appealed to writers and philosophers such as Claude Lefort, who wrote Bitran ou la question de l’œil, which was published in 1975. This was the first phenomenological text devoted to painting.

Following the artist’s Doubles series came Sextuor. Conceived in 1976, the new work comprised six paintings designed to be presented in a closed circle. It went on to be exhibited in various museums, galleries and churches. The Sekset exhibition became a touring exhibition in Scandinavia, traveling from the Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum in Aalborg in 1978 to the Sonja Henie-Niels Onstad Art Center in Oslo, and the Trondhjems Kunstforening in Norway in 1979. Sextuor was also exhibited at the Galerie de Boer in Amsterdam in the same year, as well as at the Church of St. Blaise in Salzburg, thanks to the curator Sigrun Loos. The work is now housed at Les Abattoirs in Toulouse.

Albert Bitran’s work entered a new institution in 1974 thanks to the collector Gildas Fardel’s donation to the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nantes.

During this period, the Bitran couple left their property in Rigny-le-Ferron and moved to another old building that they wanted to renovate in Gaillac, in France’s Lot region.

In the summer of 1979, Albert Bitran was chaired the painting seminar of The Summer Academy in Salzburg, where he succeeded the artist Corneille. A great music lover, Bitran took full advantage of the immersive musical experience in Salzburg, attending many concerts during his stay. The artist renewed his position in Salzburg the following summer.

Albert Bitran then developed a new theme in his Grandes Formes works, which featured a bold palette. First exhibited at the Galerie Louis Carré in Paris in 1987, these works were then presented in Tokyo and Los Angeles.

The sculptor Albert Bitran

In parallel to his painting work, Albert Bitran also explored the third dimension through sculpting, which allowed him to transpose his painted forms into the world of volumes. He created small wooden sculptures, sometimes painted in grey, and larger works in various different materials. A large wooden sculpture by the artist measuring 3 meters was exhibited at the Basel Art Fair by the Galerie Louis Carré.

During the 1990s, the artist was exhibited in a series of shows in France and abroad: in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, Turkey, Germany and Switzerland, among other countries. In 1991, during a retrospective dedicated to the Bitran’s work in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France, an interview between the artist and the historian Jean Paris was recorded and later appeared in the Gulbenkian Foundation’s magazine Coloquio Arte in 1992.

The same year, a second monograph on Albert Bitran’s work written by Georges Borgeaud was published by Ides et Calendes.

Albert Bitran & the Arcades

In the 1990s, Albert Bitran developed a fascination for a new form—that of the arcade. The squaring of the circle attracted him, reminding him of the arcades of the covered galleries in his native city, Istanbul. “There is always an open side where the arcade enters the painting and the painting enters the arcade,” said Albert Bitran. In 1997, Bitran went to Istanbul, where an exhibition was dedicated to his work at the Aksanat art centre. His friend, the art critic Necmi Sönmez, wrote the preface to the exhibition catalog.

At the turn of the 2000s, Albert Bitran participated in several other group exhibitions in his native city, including the exhibition Paris: 1945-1960. L’École de Paris et les peintres turcs [Paris: 1945-1960. The School of Paris and Turkish painters], which was presented in Istanbul at the Yapi Kredi Kâzim Taskent Sanat Galerisi in 2000. Several different exhibitions were also presented at the SantralIstanbul, including Modern and Beyond: 1950-2000 in 2007, Paris Turkish Abstract Painters in 2011, and Artists in Their Time in 2016. In 2011, Albert Bitran also participated in the exhibition Beyond the Apparent. A Selection from the Art Collection of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey at the Pera Museum in Istanbul.

Towards the end of the 1990s, Bitran sold his house in the Lot region of France and moved to Normandy, where he built a large studio filled with light. He also left his studio in Paris for Montrouge, a Parisian suburb where he set up a large studio in a former cinema. In this new studio, he created sculptures and large format paintings, such as the Arcades works, which he sometimes built in the form of triptychs.

Albert Bitran’s later work: the noirs & retrouver Degas

In the early 2000s, Albert Bitran was drawn to take a new direction in his artistic investigations. He was driven to explore the world of black, which gradually invaded his work, using oils, charcoal, Indian ink and gouache. These works were exhibited at the Galerie des Tuiliers in Lyon in 2012 under the title Érosion des noirs, with a text by Gérard-Georges Lemaire.

In 2004, Claude Bitran and the art historian Clotilde Scordia began archiving Bitran’s body of work. This would form the basis of the artist’s Catalogue raisonné, which is currently being prepared by the artist’s daughters Hélène de Panafieu and Mariane Bitran Spang-Hanssen, along with Clotilde Scordia.

In 2006, Albert Bitran participated in the exhibition L’Envolée Lyrique. Paris 1945-1956. Presented at the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris, the exhibition brought the post-war Lyrical Abstraction movement back into the limelight.

In 2010, Bitran presented his works at the Grosvenor Gallery in London with the exhibition Obliques. The artist visited the city for the opening, and it was during this stay that he visited the Courtauld Gallery. In fact, Bitran’s puzzled son-in-law had told him that someone was imitating his work. Bitran figured out why when he discovered the painting La Dame au parasol [Lady with a Parasol] by Edgar Degas. Indeed, his whole range of artistic vocabulary could be found within the work, from the curves and verticals to the small round hole. The painting’s colour palette is also similar to Bitran’s palette. The discovery gave him great satisfaction—Degas was one of the painters he most admired, along with Édouard Manet. Back in Montrouge, Bitran pursued this new direction in his work, isolating the elements, deconstructing and reconstructing the entirety of his compositions on large paper backgrounds and canvases. These works were later exhibited at the Galerie Convergences in Paris in 2017 under the title Affinités en Noir majeur. Retrouver Degas.

The painter Albert Bitran died on 9 November 2018 in Paris. The following year, a new monograph on Albert Bitran was published by Editions Liénart with the text Bitran ou la question de l’œil by Claude Lefort and a new text entitled La Traversée de la peinture by Jean-Luc Chalumeau, which retraced Albert Bitran’s career from Istanbul to Paris.