André Elbaz (born April 26, 1934,

El Jadida El Jadida (, ) is a major port city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, located south of the city of Casablanca, in the province of El Jadida and the region of Casablanca-Settat. It has a population of 170,956 as of 2023. The fortified city, b ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

) is a Moroccan

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

. Born to a Jewish family,https://www.infocenters.co.il/gfh/notebook_ext.asp?book=120503&lang=eng&site=gfh Elbaz studied art and theatre in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

from 1950 to 1961. He started painting only at the age of 21, until which age he had been interested mainly in theatre. A few years later, he managed to combine his two passions into a new approach in art-therapy, inventing together with his wife, a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

, the Pictodrame, which brought him world recognition. His first exhibition, which was very successful, took place in

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

in 1961 and earned him an appointment as Professor at the Beaux-Arts school in Casablanca. Years later, in 1976, he exhibited his paintings at the

Tel-Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

Museum. In parallel to his career as a painter, Elbaz is also known as a filmmaker. He produced several short films in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the

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. One of them, ''La nuit n'est jamais complète'' (The night is never complete), won a prize at the "5th Biennale de Paris in 1967" . Among the themes chosen for the many films he produced, there was a short one about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, as well as a series of drawings entitled ''Seuls'' (Alone), with texts written by both

Elie Wiesel Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel (September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates#1980, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel bibliogra ...

and Naim Kattan. Both the short movie and the drawings were a result of his fascination by

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

related themes. This fascination also inspired him for other works that were shown at an exhibition at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, in 1985. His paintings are famous for boasting traditional

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

themes and he often present them in a chiefly

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

style. A retrospective of his lifetime achievements and works was held in 1990 at the

Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( ; ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously served as Prime Minister of France under President Charles de Gaulle from 19 ...

Center in Paris.

Profile

Studies

Graphic Arts A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional graphics, i.e. produced on a flat surface,Theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

One man show

* 2006 - ''Retrospective of works from 1986-2005 in Morocco.'' Rabat/Casablanca (Institut Français), El Jadida (Salle Chaïbia), Fès (Musée Batha) * 2001 - ''Remember for the Future Maison Française'', Oxford - Galerie La Croix Baragnon, Toulouse * 2000 - ''Cinq triptyques en guise de perspective'' - Mémorial du CDJC, Paris * 1999 - ''Le Défit à la Barbarie'', Musée Départemental, Epinal- Bibliothèque de l'A.I.U. Parris * 1993 - ''Cegep Saint Laurent'', Montréal * 1992 - Sala dei Congressi, Milano; Casa della Cultura, Livorno - Carlton Center, Ottawa; Jewish Public Library, Montréal * 1990 - ''Biennale du Film d'Art'', Centre Pompidou, Paris * 1990 - Seïbu Gallery, Tokyo * 1989 - Nishi-Azabu; Azakloth Gallery, Tokyo * 1985 - Musée d'Art, Yad Vashem, Jérusalem * 1984 - Galerie Aut der Land, Munich * 1976 - Musée de Tel Aviv * - La Rotonde, Aix-en-Provence; Centre Edmond Fleg, Marseille * - Château de Herbeys, Grenoble * 1975 - Centre Rachi, Paris * 1972 - Albert White Gallery, Toronto * 1970 - Terre des Hommes, Montréal * 1969 - Waddington Gallery, Montréal * 1965 - Centre Culturel Français, Casablanca * 1964 - Zwemmer Gallery, Londres * 1962-63-1965 - Musée de Bab Rouah, Rabat * 1960 - Balliol College, Oxford

Awards

* 1998 - ''Prix Mémoire de la Shoah'' - Fondation du Judaïsme Français * 1968 - ''La Nuit n'est jamais complète Lauréat du court métrage'' - Vème Biennale de Paris.

Salons

* 1973 - Jean Paulhan à travers ses peintres * 1968 - Nuit Culturelle de Nancy avec Roêl d'Haese, Pierre Schaeffer, René de Obaldia Esposito, Piem. * 1961-1963-1965-1967 - Biennales de Paris, Musée d'Art Moderne * 1955-1959 - ''Salon des Surindépendants'' - Salon de l'Ecole Française - Salon d'Hiver * ''Salon de la jeune Peinture'' - Musée d'Art Moderne - Paris

Short films and animations

* 1972 - ''Histoire d'œufs'', animation at Montreal * 1971 - ''Regard sur la Peinture Américaine'', Whitney Museum, New York * 1970 - ''L'homme à la Bouteille'', Created at the NFB in Montreal at the request of

Norman McLaren William Norman McLaren, LL. D. (11 April 1914 – 27 January 1987) was a Scottish-Canadian animator, director and producer known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).Rosenthal, Alan. ''The new documentary in action: a caseb ...

- ''Les Mobiles chez Calder'' at MOMA New York * 1969 - ''Graphiques for " Kaddish "'' by Léonard Bernstein * 1966 - ''La Nuit n'est Jamais Complète'', Oratorio "A Survivor from Warsaw " Arnold Schöenberg, Service de la Recherche de l'ORTF - represents France at the ''Festival du Court-Métrage'' in Tours

Films

* 1971 - ''Seuls'', Portfolio of 20 sérigraphies, Texts from Elie Wiesel & Naïm Kattan. * 1991 - ''De feu et d'exil'', Portefolio of 20 serigraphies on the theme of the l'Inquisition, texts from François-Marc Gagnon, Shmuel Trigano & Naïm Kattan

References

External links

*official sit
Andre Elbaz, the artist
Comprehensive summary of his life and his work {{DEFAULTSORT:Elbaz, Andre 20th-century Moroccan Jews Moroccan film directors Jewish painters 1934 births Living people People from El Jadida Moroccan contemporary artists 20th-century Moroccan painters 21st-century Moroccan painters Moroccan male painters