Discover Paul Ackerman in this video:
A life shaped by exile
Paul Ackerman (1908–1981) was born in Iași, Romania. In 1912, his father, an art lover and company administrator, decided that life was no longer possible for Jews in Romania. The family settled in Paris, in a comfortable villa in the Bois de Vincennes.
Paul studied at Lycée Charlemagne, then at École Alsacienne. He began studying law and literature at the Sorbonne, but the call of art was too strong. He abandoned everything to regularly frequent the Louvre and learn to paint.
War, Saint-Tropez, clandestinity
In 1939, Paul Ackerman was mobilized, taken prisoner, then released – probably because his Jewish identity went unnoticed. He joined his wife in Vichy, from where he was expelled. He then took refuge in Saint-Tropez, where he met Pierre Bonnard, who became a close friend.
Then he hid in Savoie, where he continued to paint on whatever materials he could find: paper, cardboard, anything he could get his hands on. In the video, you will discover how he survived and created during these dark years.
Post-war: Paris, Picasso, evolution
After the Liberation, Paul Ackerman returned to his studio on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. He rubbed shoulders with Picasso, Michel Atlan, and frequented Bernard Buffet's school. His work evolved between abstraction, figuration, and symbolism.
At Nahum Gallery, we hold several of his works: an abstract ink drawing, an oil on paper painted in 1941 in Savoie (figures in a harvest field), and especially a large unfinished fresco of the Descent from the Cross, intended for a chapel in Boncourt in Eure.
Watch the video to discover his full journey, and tell us in the comments what you think of his work.
See you soon at Nahum Gallery.