Paul Mak, miniaturiste, caricaturiste et personnage étonnant

Paul Mak (1991 – 1967) fait partie de ces artistes dont la trajectoire seule donne envie d’écrire un billet. De son vrai nom Pavel Petrovitch Ivanov, il est né près de Moscou d’un père colonel à la retraite. À la sortie du lycée, il fréquente les milieux artistiques et se fait connaître par des caricatures d’acteurs de la scène moscovite. Il fait de la décoration de théâtre, fréquente un atelier de peinture et se passionne pour le tango.

En 1916, il s’engage et finit la guerre avec le grade de capitaine. Après la Révolution bolchevique, il passe quelques temps en prison (il se promène dans son uniforme d’officier tsariste, décorations en bandoulière) et fuit la Russie en 1921 à cheval. Il atterrit alors en Iran où il est engagé pour s’occuper de chevaux de course. Il étudie le travail des miniatures persanes et finit par se faire remarquer. Il devient peintre officiel du Shah de l’époque. Il expose et vit à Londres, Paris et Bruxelles, dépense des sommes folles aux courses et s’enflamme pour les femmes (on raconte qu’il est expulsé de France sous la pression d’un mari cocu).

Il n’apparaît pas dans les livres d’histoire de l’Art… et même pas dans Wikipédia !

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paul mak (1891 1967), 'weeping siren', 1959

paul mak (pavel petrovich ivanov) (1891 1967), 'visionen', 1919

Les informations sont issues du site du fils de Paul Mak : https://dourdine-mak.be/paul-mak/

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6 Commentaires

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Tororo

4 mois il y a

Un vrai régal ! Spasiba, Li-An !

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Li-An

Auteur

Répondre à Tororo

Où est passé mon dictionnaire franco-russe ???

jérôme

Je sais pas quels seraient les liens souterrains d’influence commune mais le côté fantastico-érotico-orientalisant et cette volonté de remplir l’espace me fait un peu penser à du Amano…

Répondre à jérôme

Moi, je verrai bien les illustrateurs britanniques type Beardsley pour le côté maniaque du dessin. Amano doit en être un héritier.

Julien

Ça vous explose à la figure que c’en est un plaisir !!!
Ébouriffant, d’une richesse qui jamais ne nuit à l’extrême clarté et la sensibilité de l’œuvre accomplie…
Sublime.
Quant à sa vie…ces bribes m’ont fait penser à ce foisonnement du roman ”La 25ème heure”(avec un Anthony Quinn extraordinaire pour l’adaptation par…Henri Verneuil)
Merci Li An.

Répondre à Julien

Je connaissais le film de nom, mais je ne connaissais pas l’histoire. Ça a l’air intéressant.
C’est sûr que Paul Mak a eu une vie hors norme.

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