Abraham Mintchine

Abraham Mintchine was an Ukranian painter born in Kiev. He arrived in Paris around 1925. Soon Mintchine became close to the other Russian artists who already lived in the area: Marc Chagall, Chaim Soutine, Michel Larionov, Nathalia Gontcharova and Maurice Blond. He also associated with Emile-Othon Friesz and the other painters of the emerging Ecole de Paris, playing a central role within the group. Mintchine began to take part in the Salon d’Automne and, in 1929, in the Salon des Indépendants.In the same year, the art dealer Zborowski noticed his works and organized a personal exhibition for him in his own gallery. Mintchine’s popularity grew and the famous dealer and critic René Gimpel (who had seen Alice Manteau’s exhibition) began to purchase the majority of his new work, at the same time as becoming like a brother to him. The original style of Mintchine cannot be classed by a particular movement or a specific trend. His rich and complex personality prevented him from conforming to the rules of others.

His painting is without doubt realistic, but this is his reality, observed and magnified so as to reflect the complexities of his emotional experiences. Mintchine looks around and takes his subjects from daily life, treating them with a surprising simplicity and sweet tenderness, illuminating them with natural, golden light. His colours are intense and brilliant, especially the different range of red, orange, ochre which are mixed and spread thickly almost as if to sculpt the objects, whereas cold colours, such as tones of blue, are more rare.

Selected exhibitions:

1931 - Parigi, Salon des Tuileries;
1938 - Parigi, Union des Artistes Juifs;
1947 - “Gouaches by Mintchine and Lurçat”, Londra, Gimpel Fils Gallery;
1950 - “Abraham Mintchine”, Parigi, Galerie Zak;
1951 - Glasgow, Mc Lellan Gallery;
1953 - “Russian Emigré Artists in Paris”, Londra, Redferm Gallery;
1956 - Londra, Gimpel Fils Gallery
1958 - New York, Hirschl & Adler Gallery;
1959 - “Soutine and his circle”, Londra, Crane Kalman Gallery.
1986 - “Mintchine”, Roma, Regine’s Gallery
1989 - “Abraham Mintchine opere inedite”, Bergamo, Galleria Lorenzelli
1997 - “Ecole de Paris”, Parigi, Galerie Di Veroli
1998 - “Abraham Mintchine 1898-1931”, Parigi, Galerie Di Veroli (Centenario della nascita)
1999 - “Abraham Mintchine 1898-1931”, Haifa, Israele, Mané- Katz Museum
2000 - “L’ange perdu de Montparnasse”, Parigi, Musée de Montparnasse.
 
Main museums:

- Musée Simon Segal, Aups, Francia
- Musée de Peinture et Sculpture, Grenoble, Francia
- Tate Gallery, Londra, Gran Bretagna
- Museo Nazionale di S. Matteo, Pisa, Italia
- Israel Museum, Gerusalemme
- Ein Harrod Museum, Israele
- Tel Aviv Museum, Israele
- Pétit Palais-Musée d’Art Moderne Ginevra, Svizzera
- Museo di Kiev, Urss
- Tomsk Art Museum, Urss
- Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio.

Bibliography:

- M. Gauthier, Abraham Mintchine, Parigi, Galerie Zak, 1950
- M. Gauthier, Mintchine, in “La Biennale di Venezia”, n. 18, febbraio 1954
- R. Gimpel, Journal d’un collectionneur, marchand de tableaux, Calmann-Levy, 1963
- D. Sutton, Abraham Mintchine, Londra, McRoberts and Tunnard Gallery, 1964
- “L’arte moderna”, n. 42, 1967
- Abraham Mintchine, a cura di G. Testori, Bergamo, Galleria Lorenzelli, 1969
- Enciclopedia Universale Seda della Pittura Moderna, Milano, Seda, 1969
- M. Valsecchi, Abraham Mintchine, Milano, Galleria San Fedele, 1970
- J. Bouret, in “Les lettres françaises”, Parigi, 25-31 marzo 1970
- Abraham Mintchine, a cura di G. Testori, Torino, Galleria La Parisina, 1973
- E. Roditi, Kikoïne, L’édition d’art H. Piazza, 1973
- E. Bénezit, Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et
Graveurs, Paris, Librairie Gründ, 1976
- M. Di Veroli, G. Testori, Abraham Mintchine, Milano, Giorgio Mondadori e Associati, 1981
- Abraham Mintchine, 1898-1931, Opere inedite, a cura di M. Di Veroli, J. Lorenzelli, A. Veca,
Bergamo, Galleria Lorenzelli, 1989
- Artistes russes de l’Ecole de Paris, Ginevra, Petit Palais-Musée d’Art Moderne, 1989
- M. Di Veroli, N. Nieszawer, Ecole de Paris, Parigi, Galerie Di Veroli, 1997
- M. Di Veroli, Abraham Mintchine, Parigi, Galerie Di Veroli, 1998
- Abraham Mintchine. 1898-1931, Haifa, Israele, Mané-Katz Museum, 1999
- Abraham Mintchine, L’ange perdu de Montparnasse, Parigi, Musée de Montparnasse, 2000
- N. Nieszawer, M. Boyé, P. Fogel, Peintres Juif à Paris, Ecole de Paris, Parigi, Editions Denoël, 2000
- A. Darmon, Autour de l’art Juif - Peintres, sculpteurs et photographes, Chatou, Editions Carnot, 2003

© Abraham Mintchine, by SIAE 2023