Pinchus Kremegne
Zaloudock, Vilnia, Bielorussia, 1890 - Céret, Francia, 1981
After the hesitations between sculpture and painting of the early years of training, and after some paintings of symbolist tendency, he finds in Van Gogh and Cézanne his true masters. He refers to them in an attempt to perform works that express his inner torment. Around 1916, the admiration and study of Derain and Vlaminck, led him to paint a series of red nudes, landscapes and still lifes whose vehement graphism and bright colorism made him look like a Fauve artist.
The last of nine children born to a religious and modest family, in 1909 he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vilnia (one of the most important schools, founded in 1886) where he studied sculpture and met Soutine and Kikoïne. Realizing that he had no chance of succeeding in the anti-Semitic Russia of the time, in 1912 he decided to leave for Paris as an illegal immigrant. He arrives in the capital and settles in the famous building of Vaugirard, "La Ruche", the great falansterio that hosts many emigrated artists; here he frequents especially Kostia Terechkovitch and Lazare Volovick. Following his advice, Soutine joined him in 1913.
The same year Krémègne exhibited three sculptural works at the Salon des Indépendants, but in 1915 he abandoned sculpture to devote himself to painting.
In the French capital he discovered the museums and galleries where the works of the Impressionists, the Fauves and the Cubists were exhibited, but his painting was above all expressionist. In Montparnasse he frequented mainly Marc Chagall, Michel Kikoïne, André Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck, Max Jacob. His friend Modigliani painted his portrait. The first to buy his works were the merchants Chéron, Zborowski and Paul Guillaume. In 1918 he discovered Céret, in the South of France; he stayed there often and this village with its surroundings became the favourite place of inspiration.
The first documented solo exhibition took place in 1919 at the Galerie Jacques Povolozki in Paris, followed by many others in the major galleries of the capital (Galerie La Licorne, Champigny, Van Leer, Druet, Gerbo, Creuze, Art vivant, Mouradian-Vallotton, Durand-Ruel, Jacques Chalom, Colette Dubois).
After the hesitations between sculpture and painting of the early years of training, and after some paintings of symbolist tendency, he finds in Van Gogh and Cézanne his true masters. He refers to them in an attempt to perform works that express his inner torment. Around 1916, the admiration and study of Derain and Vlaminck, led him to paint a series of red nudes, landscapes and still lifes whose vehement graphism and bright colorism made him look like a Fauve artist.
From 1920 he began a series of journeys: to Corsica (1923), to Cagnes-sur-Mer (1928-29) and to Scandinavia, from where he returned with several portraits of peasants. From 1924 he painted a series of large still lifes from the solid construction that constitute an important part of his production until 1939. For Krémègne painting is first of all (taking up a term dear to Cézanne) a "plastic fact" and the subject is always a mere pretext.
In 1940, because of the war, he took refuge in Turenne, in Corrèze; he participated in the work in the fields and a gallery provided him with colors so that he could continue painting. At the Liberation he returned to Paris and settled in an atelier on rue François-Guibert; from 1949 to 1956 he stayed in Israel, organizing solo exhibitions all over the world: in 1954 at the Redfern Gallery in London, in 1958 at the Coloman Art Gallery in Philadelphia, 1960 and 1964 at the Adams Gallery in London, 1960 at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen.
In the sixties Krémègne bought a plot of land in Céret on which he built his "home-studio" where he lived until the end, in the spring of 1981.
Krémègne, like many other artists who emigrated from Central Europe, had the merit of introducing a current of an expressionist nature in the Ecole de Paris, in particular, his was called "Sublimated Expressionism".
In 1990, Céret’s Musée d'Art Moderne dedicated a major retrospective to him, repeated in 1996 at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Chartres. In 1998 the Galerie Aittouares in Paris held an exhibition in his honour.
Museums:
Berna (Kunstmuseum),
Ginevra, (Pétit Palais, Musée d’Art Moderne), Swiss
Céret (Musée d’Art Moderne), France
Moscow, Russia
Tel Aviv, Israel
Bibliography:
R. Nacenta, La Scuola di Parigi, Istituto Geografico de Agostini, Novara, 1960; Artistes russes de l’Ecole de Paris, Petit Palais, Musée d’Art Moderne, Ginevra, 1989; G. Diehl, Kremegne, L’expressionnisme sublimé, Paris, Navarin Editeur, 1990; N. Nieszawer, M. Boyé, P. Fogel, Peintres Juif à Paris, Ecole de Paris, Paris, Editions Denoël, 2000 ; Da Renoir a Picasso, un secolo d’arte al Petit Palais di Ginevra, a cura di Paola Gribaudo, Milano, Electa, 2001; A. M. Darmon, Autour de l’art juif, Ecyclopédie des peintres, photographes et sculpteurs, Chatou, Editions Carnot, 2003; Da Caillebotte a Picasso, I capolavori della collezione Oscar Ghez dal Museo del Petit Palais di Ginevra a cura di L. Caramel, N. Sainte Fare Garnot, G. Gentry, Milano, Mazzotta, 2003.
© Pinchus Kremegne, by SIAE 2023
The same year Krémègne exhibited three sculptural works at the Salon des Indépendants, but in 1915 he abandoned sculpture to devote himself to painting.
In the French capital he discovered the museums and galleries where the works of the Impressionists, the Fauves and the Cubists were exhibited, but his painting was above all expressionist. In Montparnasse he frequented mainly Marc Chagall, Michel Kikoïne, André Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck, Max Jacob. His friend Modigliani painted his portrait. The first to buy his works were the merchants Chéron, Zborowski and Paul Guillaume. In 1918 he discovered Céret, in the South of France; he stayed there often and this village with its surroundings became the favourite place of inspiration.
The first documented solo exhibition took place in 1919 at the Galerie Jacques Povolozki in Paris, followed by many others in the major galleries of the capital (Galerie La Licorne, Champigny, Van Leer, Druet, Gerbo, Creuze, Art vivant, Mouradian-Vallotton, Durand-Ruel, Jacques Chalom, Colette Dubois).
After the hesitations between sculpture and painting of the early years of training, and after some paintings of symbolist tendency, he finds in Van Gogh and Cézanne his true masters. He refers to them in an attempt to perform works that express his inner torment. Around 1916, the admiration and study of Derain and Vlaminck, led him to paint a series of red nudes, landscapes and still lifes whose vehement graphism and bright colorism made him look like a Fauve artist.
From 1920 he began a series of journeys: to Corsica (1923), to Cagnes-sur-Mer (1928-29) and to Scandinavia, from where he returned with several portraits of peasants. From 1924 he painted a series of large still lifes from the solid construction that constitute an important part of his production until 1939. For Krémègne painting is first of all (taking up a term dear to Cézanne) a "plastic fact" and the subject is always a mere pretext.
In 1940, because of the war, he took refuge in Turenne, in Corrèze; he participated in the work in the fields and a gallery provided him with colors so that he could continue painting. At the Liberation he returned to Paris and settled in an atelier on rue François-Guibert; from 1949 to 1956 he stayed in Israel, organizing solo exhibitions all over the world: in 1954 at the Redfern Gallery in London, in 1958 at the Coloman Art Gallery in Philadelphia, 1960 and 1964 at the Adams Gallery in London, 1960 at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen.
In the sixties Krémègne bought a plot of land in Céret on which he built his "home-studio" where he lived until the end, in the spring of 1981.
Krémègne, like many other artists who emigrated from Central Europe, had the merit of introducing a current of an expressionist nature in the Ecole de Paris, in particular, his was called "Sublimated Expressionism".
In 1990, Céret’s Musée d'Art Moderne dedicated a major retrospective to him, repeated in 1996 at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Chartres. In 1998 the Galerie Aittouares in Paris held an exhibition in his honour.
Museums:
Berna (Kunstmuseum),
Ginevra, (Pétit Palais, Musée d’Art Moderne), Swiss
Céret (Musée d’Art Moderne), France
Moscow, Russia
Tel Aviv, Israel
Bibliography:
R. Nacenta, La Scuola di Parigi, Istituto Geografico de Agostini, Novara, 1960; Artistes russes de l’Ecole de Paris, Petit Palais, Musée d’Art Moderne, Ginevra, 1989; G. Diehl, Kremegne, L’expressionnisme sublimé, Paris, Navarin Editeur, 1990; N. Nieszawer, M. Boyé, P. Fogel, Peintres Juif à Paris, Ecole de Paris, Paris, Editions Denoël, 2000 ; Da Renoir a Picasso, un secolo d’arte al Petit Palais di Ginevra, a cura di Paola Gribaudo, Milano, Electa, 2001; A. M. Darmon, Autour de l’art juif, Ecyclopédie des peintres, photographes et sculpteurs, Chatou, Editions Carnot, 2003; Da Caillebotte a Picasso, I capolavori della collezione Oscar Ghez dal Museo del Petit Palais di Ginevra a cura di L. Caramel, N. Sainte Fare Garnot, G. Gentry, Milano, Mazzotta, 2003.
© Pinchus Kremegne, by SIAE 2023
