Lot 63. Alfred Aberdam (Polish, 1894-1963). Nature Morte, signed ‘Aberdam 35’ (lower right), oil on canvas laid on canvas, 89 x 116cm (35 1/16 x 45 11/16in). Literature: Jewish Artists of the School of Paris 1905-1939, Somogy éditions d’art, Paris, 2015, p. 37.
Alfred Aberdam was brought up in a wealthy family of Lwow (Lemberg), Ukraine. In 1913 he left for Munich where he attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. When World War I broke out, his studies found premature end as he was mobilized to serve in the Austrian army on the Eastern Front. Wounded in the beginning of the war, Aberdam was captured by the Russian Army and was deported in Irkutsk, Siberia. In 1917, he was appointed as People’s Commissar of the Department of Fine Arts and was tasked to reform its educational program. A year later, in Moscow, he met the poet Vladimir Maïakowski. After living in Leningrad and Vienna, Aberdam returned to his hometown, Lwow. Between 1920 and 1922, he obtained his first art prize while studying at the Fine Arts Academy in Krakow under Josef Pankiewicz’s supervision. His career took off in Warsaw in April 1922 when he participated in the 4th Exposition of Painting and Sculpture hosted by the Jewish Community Center, followed in October in Lwow by the collective exposition of the Circle of Jewish Art Lovers. From that date on, he contributed articles and reports to artistic reviews in Lwow, notably to Chwila and Nasz Przeglad. In 1923, he was staying in Berlin and met Menkès and Weingart in the studio of the sculptor Alexander Archipenko. In 1924, he settled in Paris in the Montparnasse district. Until 1937, thanks to his friend Marcel Slodki, Aberdam enjoyed commissions from Swiss collectors. Under the German occupation, he found refuge in Paris at pianist Anna Radlinska’s home. After the war, Alfred Aberdam returned to his home in Paris, visited the south of France, Switzerland, and later Israel, where several exhibitions were devoted to his art.
Estimate 1,800 – 2,200 GBP. Bonhams. 03/03/21. Sold for £ 6,375 (US$ 8,894) inc. premium

To były chyba w Bonhams dwie najtaniej sprzedane prace Ecole de Paris żydowskiech artystów mających swoje korzenie na polskich terenach. Przyzwyczajony zostalem do obecności na rynku późnych prac Aberdama przedstawiających zdeformowane postacie ludzkie, malowane w bardzo ciemnej tonacji a tu wystawiono dość wczesną jego martwą naturę oraz wygląd mieszkania lub pracowni malarskiej. Oba oleje w ciemnej niestety dla mnie kolorystyce.

Lot 64. Alfred Aberdam (Polish, 1894-1963). L’atelier, signed ‘Aberdam’ (lower left), oil on canvas, 64.7 x 54cm (25 1/2 x 21 1/4in). Literature: École de Paris 1905-1939, Éditions Ritter, Paris 2000, p. 109.
Estimate 1,800 – 2,000 euro. Bonhams. 03/03/21. Sold for £ 4,462 (US$ 6,226) inc. premium