Segal Simon

Biography

Simon Segal, born October 3, 1898 in Białystok and died August 2, 1969 in Arcachon, is a Russian Jewish figurative painter, naturalized French in 1949. Evolving within the School of Paris, he is recognized for his portraits, his animal representations, as well as his landscapes and seascapes, distinguished by his lyricism and his austere and expressive style.
Born into a wealthy Jewish family, Segal moved to Berlin in 1918 after studying engineering, where he began publishing illustrations in the magazine Spolochi. In 1925, he arrived in France, eking out a precarious existence as a librarian and laborer, before meeting art dealer Bruno Bassano in Toulon in 1926. His first exhibition in Paris in 1935 attracted the attention of American collector Frank Altschul, who acquired all of his works on display.
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During the Second World War, Segal took refuge in Aubusson. After the war, he settled in Jobourg, Normandy, where he experienced an intense creative period. In 1957, he illustrated the Bible and, in 1968, the Apocalypse according to Saint John. Upon his death, he was buried in Arcachon, where his friend Dr. Pierre Osenat donated some of his works to the town. The chapel of the Ursuline convent in Aups now houses the Simon Segal Museum of Modern Art, displaying 280 paintings, including 175 from the School of Paris.