Jaques chapiro
Jewish Painter of the School of Paris circle
Jacques Chapiro was born in 1887 in Dvinsk, Belarus and died in Paris in 1972.
Early Life
Being a son of a wood sculptor, he began his artistic education at the early age of ten. In 1915, at the age of 18 he moved to Poland to attend the Krakow academy of fine art and in 1918 he moved the Ukraine to study in the Academy of Fine Arts of Kiev.
Early Work
During the Russian Civil War, while pursuing his studies, he contribute to the revolution efforts by painting posters. In 1921, he studied art in Petrograd, and during this period he worked as a decorator in the Meyerhold Theater. He worked for Stanislavski and Vachtangov, both notorious in the field of theater.
Montparnasse Period
In 1925, he left Russia in favor of Paris, and settled down in Montparnasse. As of 1926, he exhibited his works in Les Independents Salon (the Independents’ Salon), the Tuileries and other places as well. In 1939, he became a refugee, escaping to Carpentras and later on to Hautes-Alpes. When the war ended he traveled to Italy, before returning back to Paris. When he did return to Paris he set down to write his book of anecdotal stories taken from the life of the artists from La Rouch. He opposed the demolition of La Rouch in 1967 and he founded, along with Marc Chagall and Raymond Cogniat, a committee that fought against this move. The committee succeeded in its cause. Chapiro’s works can be found in museums in the United States (Chicago), Russia (Moscow) and France (Jeu de Paume, Paris). As to his artistic style, it seems that Chapiro was fond of experiments. His many paintings are much different from one another; some are definitely Cubistic in style, some Impressionists and others Fauvists. We cannot say the same thing on his sketching. Throughout his artistic career, Chapiro kept sketching in his unique signature, with a light and talented hand. It is in his realistic sketching, which are somewhat casual, that one can be truly impressed by his talent.