Boris Taslitzky (1911–2005), “at The Dentist’s,” 1954, Oil On Canvas, 55 X 46 Cm

Boris Taslitzky (1911–2005) “At the Dentist’s,” 1954, oil on canvas, 55x46 cm
Boris Taslitzky, an internationally renowned French painter, was born in Paris to Ukrainian parents. A Parisian throughout his life, he was one of those artists whose calling became apparent at a very early age. He was only fifteen when he began attending the art schools of Montparnasse, and later the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He was notably supported by George Besson, Francis Jourdain, and Louis Aragon; his studio was a gathering place for figures from the worlds of art and culture. His painting is firmly rooted in the French tradition, from Poussin to Fragonard, and from Ingres, Géricault, and Delacroix to Courbet.
His career was deeply shaped by the major upheavals of 20th-century history. Both a witness to and a participant in this history, his artistic and political commitments reflected his particularly acute awareness of his responsibility as a man and an artist. In 1933, he joined the Association of Revolutionary Writers and Artists (A.É.A.R.), becoming secretary-general of its Painters and Sculptors section; then, in 1935, he joined the Communist Party. On the issue of realism, he actively participated in the debates at the Maison de la Culture that foreshadowed the cultural policy of the Popular Front.
Boris Taslitzky stated that his entire life had been marked by war. After the failure of the 1905 revolution, his parents fled Russia for Paris; during World War I, in 1915, his father was killed while fighting in the French army, and in 1942, his mother—because she was Jewish—was arrested and murdered by the Nazis at the Auschwitz concentration camp. From the very beginning, Boris Taslitzky’s commitment to the Resistance was exemplary. Drafted into the army, he was taken prisoner and escaped. Accused of creating politically charged drawings, he was arrested again. His subversive activities did not wane during his incarceration in the Vichy jails, at the Riom central prison, and then at the Saint-Sulpice-la-Pointe camp, where, with the help of fellow prisoners, he painted a series of murals that, thanks to an article by Aragon published in *Regards*, earned him the title “Master of Saint Sulpice.” He did not give up even in the Nazi concentration camp hell of Buchenwald, where, thanks to solidarity and the clandestine resistance organization, Boris Taslitzky produced nearly two hundred sketches and drawings, as well as five watercolors. Paying tribute to the talent and courage of his painter friend, Aragon had the album, *111 Drawings Made in Buchenwald*, published as early as 1946. Following a 1978 reprint by the French Buchenwald-Dora Association, the significantly expanded collection was recently published by Biro Editeur. The Museum of Jewish Art and History dedicated an exhibition to this exceptional visual testimony in 2006.
Throughout his life, Boris Taslitzky’s activism in support of justice and freedom remained intimately linked to his work.
In France and abroad, Boris Taslitzky’s work is held in numerous private collections as well as in prestigious public collections, such as in Paris (Musée National d’Art Moderne, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Musée des Années 30), in Moscow (Pushkin Museum), and in London (Tate Modern).


Text by Isabelle Rollin-Royer on the website dedicated to the painter.