Alexandre ISTRATI

Alexandre Istrate (known as Istrati) began his apprenticeship at the School of Fine Arts in Bucharest. Subsequently, he moved to Paris thanks to the scholarship from the French Institute in Bucharest, in 1947, with his painter wife Natalia Dumitresco.

They are welcomed by their compatriot, the sculptor Constantin Brancusi, who helps them find accommodation. Their friendship lasts a long time, the sculptor designates them as executor. In France, he worked at the School of Fine Arts and at the Academy of André Lhote. In 1953 he was awarded the Kandinsky Prize.

His personal exhibitions are numerous: they begin in Paris in Paris, from 1949 to 1968, and also internationally – New York, Brussels, Caracas, Milan, Washington, Copenhagen, London, Cologne, Munich. Besides the solo shows, iparticipates in group exhibitions, notably at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, the Turin Biennale, the exhibition “An Adventure of Abstract Art” at the Galliera Museum, and at the Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence.

After a brief period influenced by “Les Réalités nouvelles”, Istrati’s painting evolved towards lyrical abstraction, a brightly colored abstract expressionism. His approach, always experimental, is constantly evolving.

Bibliography:

• Roger Van Gindertael “Istrati in”; Eugène Ionesco “Catalogue of the Istrati exhibition”.