Alexandre Altmann (Jewish-Ukrainian, 1878-1932)

Alexandre Altmann was a Jewish-Ukrainian painter famous for his landscapes, still lifes, and Parisian street scenes. His family was very poor and as a young boy, Altmann left his family home for Odessa. There he worked in an artist's studio, who recognised his talent and encouraged Altmann to pursue an artistic education. Soon after Altmann left Odessa for Vienna, then Paris.

In Paris Alexandre Altmann became associated with important artists of the Fauvist and Cubist movements. With the help of Jewish patrons, he was able to organise his first personal exhibition in 1908. Although the exhibition was a success, he still lived in extreme poverty, but an unexpected sale of one of his works allowed him to enrol at Académie Julian.

Alexandre Altmann briefly returned to Russia when the First World War began in 1914, however it is believed that by 1922 he was back in France.

Altmann exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants, the Salon des Tuileries, and the Salon d’Automne. In 1920 and 1922 he was the subject of two solo shows at Galerie Marcel Bernheim. From the latter exhibition, two works were bought by the Luxembourg Museum, Paris.