
Alexander (Sasha) Putov
Biography
Alexander (Sacha) Putov (1940-2008)
Alexander Putov, also known by his nickname Sacha Putov, was a prolific creator producing thousands of paintings, prints, and drawings is his lifetime. His artistic process was devoted to depicting the soul, the essence, of whatever he painted, which he called the 'Realism of Destiny'.
In the USSR (present-day Russia), after leaving medical studies, Putov joined the army in 1962 where he began to draw. In 1969, he graduated in architecture in Moscow. He had some difficulty working and exhibiting in the USSR as he refused to conform to Soviet standards and was not part of the Union of Soviet Painters. He associated and worked with artists and poets in the various Soviet nonconformity movements, exhibiting at the home of the poet Vladislav Lion in 1972, and meeting with the avant-garde artist Mikhail Schwartzman to begin exploring ideas on the essence of a subject and studying iconographic art. His work in Russia does not survive.
Putov decided to leave the USSR with his wife Marina in 1973 for Israel, where he was able to emigrate due to his Jewish heritage. The pair moved to Haifa, where Marina gave birth to their son David. Inspired by the atmosphere of the Holy Land, Putov continued his work and artistic research, painting frescoes on the walls of the refectory where he was doing his military courses before connecting with the Israeli painter Yosl Bergner who gave him his support, and organized numerous exhibitions in Israel between 1974 and 1986. In 1980, he and Marine divorced.
In 1986, Putov was invited to exhibit at the International Center for Contemporary Art (CIAC) in Paris, and decided to move to France permanently. From 1986 to 2000, he was involved with the Art Cloche movement in Paris, 'clochard' being a French slang term for homeless person, in which members lived and worked in artist squats, making art from found materials. When finances allowed, Putov painted oil portraits of the people he met in the squats, as well as urban landscapes such as his "Les Toits de Paris" series. Despite spending many years involved in the movement, Putov claimed no school or movement; focusing on his ideological concept of depicting the soul, which was for him a spiritual process, as he wrote in the dedication of his autobiography, "Dedicated to all those who are faithful to the divine vocation."
In 1987, he met Sylvie Gottraux with whom he had two children, Louise and Vassili. They moved to Gonesse in 1989, where Putov painted many landscapes of the small town and surrounding villages. He an Sylvie traveled to Switzerland, Provence, and Brittany, inspiring many landscape paintings. In 2000, his family settled in Brittany.
In 2003, Putov was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. As his abilities deteriorated, he painted, then drew, with his right hand, then with his left, until he became unable to continue. He began working on his autobiography, "Le Réalisme du Destin," in 2005 and completed in 2007. He died of his illness on November 18, 2008 at a hospital in Rennes, France. His autobiography was published in Moscow in 2013. In the same year, a catalogue of his work between 1973 and 1986 was published in Israel.
In Canada, Putov's work has reached new audiences thanks to the dedication of gallerist Bela Gelbman, then his son Peter Gelbman and wife Nadia, who ran Carmel Art Gallery in Ottawa from 1979 to 2014. The works in Sphere's collection have all come from the Gelbman family.
Source: Wikipedia https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_Putov
Of interest: Interview between Louise Putov and Peter Gelbman https://surlestracesdeputov.wordpress.com/2017/12/14/peter-gelbman-interview/Influences
Van Gogh , Picasso , Chagall , Goya , Modigliani , Cézanne , Soutine
Exhibitions
Timart Gallery, Jerusalem, 1979
Ludmilla Gallery, Tel Aviv, 1981-1982
Diana Gallery, Haifa, 1982-1988
Collection Christiane and Jean-Charles Riz, Paris, from 1986 to today
Alexis Péron collection, from 1986 to today
Carmel Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON Canada, 1988-2012
Poets Club, Paris, 1995-1999
Xavier Delannoy Gallery, La Garde-Freinet, 1990
Maignan Gallery
Town hall of Marcillat-en-Combraille, 2000
Montluçon Tourist Office, 2003
Nicolas Coignard collection, since 2008
Sylvain Coignard collection, since 2008
Town hall of Gonesse, 2012
Michelle Gérin-Lajoie Collection, Canada, since 1991
Patrice Larregain collection since 2012
Yvon Georget collection since 2012
Belair Gallery Pascal Bello, Luxembourg, 2012
Les Singuliers Gallery, 138 Boulevard Haussmann 75008 Paris, 2013
Galerie Les Incorrects, 5 Rue de La Bûcherie 75005 Paris, from May toOctober 2013
Sylvie Le Page Gallery, Paris, 2014 and 2015 [ 6 ]
Vincent Lagarde collection
Regis Kalaydjian Collection
Didier Danet collection
Alexander Putov, drawings , The Museum of Modern Art, Haifa,January 1976[ 7 ] .
Prince and Princess of Wales
Canadian Art Film Center
Campeau Corporation, Canada
Peat Marwick Mitchell &Co
Golda Meir Family
Prime Minister of Canada
Basmadjian Gallery.
Mr. B. Mulroney
Prof. Norton Dodge
Mr Kostakis;
Lili Brochetain Collection
Sacha Putov having offered paintings and drawings to the poet Jean-Pierre Rosnay , these are often visible at the Poets Club in Paris .
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