The Bouquet-sacha Garbell (1903-1970)

An oil on canvas measuring 46X33 cm representing a bouquet of flowers signed by Alexandre Sacha Garbell (1903-1970)

Alexandre Garbell began to use brushes at the age of thirteen. After studying in Moscow, he arrived in Paris in 1923 and became a student at the Ranson Academy where he studied with Roger Bissière. It is therefore part of what has been called the School of Paris. But very quickly he worked alone and demonstrated, with regard to all groups and all schools, an independence and a freedom which have never been denied thereafter. From 1928, Garbell's work was regularly presented in Paris, in either personal or collective exhibitions. During the occupation, like other painters (Marcelle Rivier, André Lanskoy), Garbell took refuge in Mirmande where André Lhote opened a free academy. Young artists come here to seek emulation from their peers and advice from their elders. So it is with Gustav Bolin, Philibert-Charrin or Pierre Palué. Competent and generous, Garbell influences a new generation of artists, especially those from the young Lyon school (of which André Cottavoz will be one of the most representative). In 1946, Alexandre Garbell returned to Paris where he exhibited in large galleries. From 1950, he crossed borders and exhibited abroad: in Denmark, Switzerland, England, Italy and the United States. On the occasion of the exhibition organized by the “Fine arts associates gallery” in New York in 1956, a television film was shot in the United States on the theme The painter and his work. Garbell regularly takes part in important exhibitions in France and abroad: “Salon des surindépendants”, “Salon de Mai” in 1950 and then from 1954 to 1961; “Salon des Réalités Nouvelles” in 1961; "Comparisons" in 1956, 1957, 1962 and 1963; also “Salon des Tuileries” and “Salon d'automne”; "Latin lands", "Big and young today". Before disappearing, he will be able to see the homage paid to him by the Framond gallery in Paris in 1970 under the title Garbell, fifteen years of painting. He died in December 1970 and is buried in Montry (Seine-et-Marne).