Les Dominicaines

Sam Szafran

Curator: Gaëtane Barbenchon-Lang with the support of the Centre Pompidou - RMN and the Collection de Bueil & Ract-Madoux. Essais by Estelle Pietrzyk, Jean Clair and Alain Madeleine-Perdrillat

Sam Szafran (1934-2019), is the son of Polish Jewish immigrants. After the war then, after a few years spent in Australia, he returned to Paris in 1951. In 1960, he discovered pastel which would become his favorite technique.  He meets Yves Klein, Django Reinhardt, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Joan Mitchell, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Alberto and Diego Giacometti…  Important exhibitions have been devoted to him, notably at the Maeght foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, at the Musée de la Vie Romantique in Paris, at the Max Ernst museum in Brühl, at the Pierre Gianadda foundation in Martigny…   

The art historian Jean Clair says of his work that “it is one of the most secret and most poetic of this time”. The Dominicans have had the chance, in the past, to be able to present some of the artist's pieces during collective exhibitions and to welcome on their picture rails works by artists in the wake of Sam Szafran. 

The Pontepiscopal exhibition that we dedicate to him during the summer period aims to pay homage to him. Bringing together around fifty pieces from public and private collections, it shows chronologically, in techniques combining in an extraordinary way, the “dry and wet” to use its expression in the film “Ni dieu, ni maître”. His favorite themes are foliage with green greenhouses, the winding and vertiginous staircase, the studio (those of the artists or even the Bellini printing house) and of course the figure – that of Lilette, his wife, in particular) .

 

From 21 May 2022 to 18 September 2022
Image for Sam Szafran
Artwork(s) loaned
  • Staircase with banister

    Sam Szafran (1934—2019)

    Staircase with banister 1992
    Watercolor on silk
    Szafran, Jean Clair Skira 1996, n°6 p.206
  • Self-portrait with Jacques Kerchache in the studio

    Sam Szafran (1934—2019)

    Self-portrait with Jacques Kerchache in the studio 1965
    Charcoal, stump and pastel on paper
    Collection William Louis-Dreyfus, New York
    Sam Szafran, Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence 2000 - Sam Szafran, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Suisse, 1999-2000
  • Foliage XXXVIII

    Sam Szafran (1934—2019)

    Foliage XXXVIII 1987
    Watercolor and blue pastel on paper
    Arborescences, Domaine de Chaumont sur Loire, 2017
  • Abstract Composition

    Sam Szafran (1934—2019)

    Abstract Composition August 1957
    Oil and mixed media on canvas
  • Foliage

    Sam Szafran (1934—2019)

    Foliage 1982
    Black pencil on paper
    Sam Szafran, Pastels et Fusains, Centre d’Art de Flaine, Cluses, 1986
  • Self-portrait (as Spilliaert)

    Sam Szafran (1934—2019)

    Self-portrait (as Spilliaert) Circa 1960
    Ink and wash on paper
  • Portrait of Jacques Kerchache from above, head tilted

    Sam Szafran (1934—2019)

    Portrait of Jacques Kerchache from above, head tilted 1971
    Charcoal on paper
    Sam Szafran, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Suisse, 1999-2000
  • Octin II

    Sam Szafran (1934—2019)

    Octin II 1959
    Mixed media on paper
  • Abstract Composition

    Sam Szafran (1934—2019)

    Abstract Composition 1958
    Mixed media on paper
  • Abstract Composition

    Sam Szafran (1934—2019)

    Abstract Composition 1958
    Oil, Ink, Collage on paper