Paul Ackerman

Abstract Composition - Watercolor drawing by Paul Ackerman - Mid-20th Century

Mid-20th Century

Paul Ackerman (1908-1981) was born in Romania to a well-to-do Jewish family who sought refuge in France four years later. The Ackermans settled in Paris, where young Paul was initially encouraged by his businessman father in his love of art. From a young age he drew and painted and regularly visited the Louvre. However, once he had finished his secondary education, he enrolled in law school to please his father. Nonetheless, he continued his interest in the arts enrolling in courses given by Fernand Leger. Leger was enormously encouraging, and Ackerman, emboldened by the confidence Leger instilled in him, was convinced not to abandon his artistic inclinations. During the Second World War, after Hitler invaded the so-called Free Zone, he and his wife went into hiding in the village of Chindrieux, near Aix-en-Bains where they remained in the house of a friend until France was liberated. Throughout the war, Ackerman made art continuously, painting and drawing on newspaper when he was unable to afford any real artists’ materials. At the time of liberation, Ackerman met the painter Pierre Bonnard, whose evocative work and poetic touch had a lasting impact on his own. Upon his return to Paris in 1944, Ackerman fell profoundly under the sway of Cubism through his friendship with the artist Jacques Villon (1875-1963), which occupied him for a solid decade. In 1947 the first exhibition of the artist was held. In 1970, a retrospective exhibition of Ackermann's works was held at the Paris Galliera Museum. He died in 1981 in Paris (Ref: Prabook.com)