Youla Chapoval (1919 - 1951) — Still Life With A Pipe, 1946

Still Life with a Pipe, 1946
Oil on panel, signed, dated and dedicated upper left.
21 x 28 cm

Youla Chapoval: A brief path, between figuration and abstraction

Youla Chapoval (1919-1951) was a French painter of Ukrainian origin whose career, though brief, was part of the transition between figurative art and lyrical abstraction in the post-war period. Born in Kiev, he left the USSR in the 1930s with his family and settled first in France, then in Spain, before returning to Paris, where he continued his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts. He began his career in an artistic context marked by the upheavals of the Second World War and the search for new plastic languages.
In the 1940s, his work was still firmly rooted in figuration, notably in still lifes, interior scenes and stylized landscapes, but already marked by a formal simplification and great attention to color relationships. Gradually, Chapoval turned to a more assertive abstraction, influenced by figures such as Nicolas de Staël and Jean Bazaine, without adopting a radically geometric style. He belongs to this generation of artists who seek a personal path between formal rigor and intuitive sensitivity, within what is sometimes called lyrical or informal abstraction.
His painting is characterized by controlled construction, structured flat tints and a certain silent gravity. He exhibited at several important salons (Salon de Mai, Salon des Réalités Nouvelles) and began to attract critical attention.
In 1951, aged just 32, Chapoval died prematurely, interrupting a body of work in full development. His death offers a glimpse of what his career might have become in the post-war art landscape.
Although he remained unknown to the general public for a long time, his work has been rediscovered and exhibited on several occasions, notably at the Centre Pompidou. Today, he is recognized as one of the promising artists of the post-1945 abstract revival, whose work, rare and concentrated, reflects both the tensions and the research of an era in reconstruction.

Discover more works by this artist on the gallery's website: https://www.galeriepentcheff.fr/fr/peintre-youla-chapoval#Oeuvres