1 / 3
painting of a man with a guitar in a frame on a walla picture of a painting of scissors and a painting of a mangraffiti on the wall of a building with a clock on it
Featured lot selected by the auctions House.
Premium FauveParis

30 - Jean-Michel Atlan (1913–1960) Untitled 1953 Pastel on paper,…
See original version (French)

Estimate €6,500 - €9,000
Sale commission
Description
Jean-Michel Atlan (1913–1960) Untitled 1953 Pastel on paper, signed and dated in the bottom right-hand corner 25 x 32 cm Provenance: > Drawings auction at Ader, 5 November 2021 at the Hôtel Drouot, Paris – lot no. 195 > Private collection, Paris A certificate from Mr Jacques Elbaz, dated 1 July 2014, will be provided to the buyer. Condition report: Framed “I am not abstract, neither in terms of the atmosphere of my works nor in terms of ‘execution’. A form interests me only when it is alive (or when I have succeeded in bringing it to life), and then it is no longer abstract: it is alive!” Of Jewish-Kabyle origin, Jean Michel Atlan moved to Paris in 1930, where he studied philosophy before going on to teach it himself at various secondary schools until 1940. He was subsequently stripped of his post by the Vichy government and its anti-Semitic laws. It was not until 1941 that Jean-Michel Atlan took up painting; his early works were in the style of expressionist figurative art. A year later, he was arrested because of his religion and his involvement in the Resistance. He eventually managed to escape the extermination camps by feigning madness. In 1944, he published a small volume of poetry, *Le Sang profond*, and exhibited as part of a group show at the Salon des Surindépendants and held a solo exhibition at the Galerie Arc-en-Ciel. He then met a growing number of artists: Gertrude Stein in 1945, Asger Jorn in 1946, followed by Karel Appel, Constant and Corneille, members of the Cobra movement, which he joined in 1948. Like Hans Hartung, Pierre Soulages, Serge Poliakoff and Gérard Schneider—all friends and admirers of the self-taught artist—Jean Michel Atlan is a key figure in lyrical abstraction due to the importance he attaches to gestural expression. His work is characterised by sinuous, charcoal-like black lines that interplay with areas of flat colour in a limited palette consisting of ochre, yellow, red and black. The black outline in his works can also take on more angular forms, thereby bringing this thick material to life.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale Modern art • Contemporary art • Art Brut • Kinetic art • Photography • Aboriginal art
Auction location
Auction time 09/19/2026 at 10:30 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
You may also like