Georges Terzian

Alon Zakaim

Fine Art

GEORGES TERZIAN

Alon Zakaim Fine Art presents

GEORGES TERZIAN This catalogue highlights a collection of oil and gouache paintings executed by Georges Terzian who has lived and worked in Paris since the 1950s. Focusing on the artist’s most prolific period, between 1965 and 1990, the works are presented in the catalogue according to their subject matter and style. Terzian’s spirited personality runs firmly throughout the collection.

Combining a vivid palette with convivial subject matter, each canvas demonstrates an artist taking great joy in his work.

For over half a century Georges Terzian has painted with modesty and for many years in solitude. Alon Zakaim Fine Art is honoured to present such a large collection of Terzian’s outstanding work to the public for the first time.

30 Cork Street, London, W1S 3NG, T + 44 (0)20 7287 7750 F + 44 (0)20 7287 7751 gallery@alonzakaim.com www.alonzakaim.com

Georges Terzian b. 1939 Georges Terzian was born in Marseille on 8 March 1939. Of Armenian descent, his family originally lived in Russia but moved to France before he was born.

Terzian began to draw and paint when he was very young. At fourteen his parents enrolled him into L’École des Beaux-Arts in Marseille. He studied there for one year but quit before completing his studies to become a boot maker. After leaving, Terzian continued to paint in his workshop in Saint-Mitre, near Marseille. He also studied music in Paris with Jean Lumière who tutored many talented musicians emerging in Paris at the time.

Inspired by the Post-Impressionists, Georges Terzian’s early paintings focused on the landscapes of Provence. Working in oil and gouache he experimented with the impressionist technique of painting en plein air in the areas surrounding his family home.

At this time he was particularly impressed by Cezanne’s compositions of simple forms and colour planes, painted at the turn of the century.

Georges Terzian settled in Paris in the 1960s and made a living by singing in the Cabarets of Montmartre. Painting prolifically, the artist’s development was consistently hinged to the Cubist movement with a particular focus on Braque and Picasso.

Through studying the works of these Cubist masters, Terzian developed his own type of post-cubism. Focusing almost entirely on still lifes, he experimented with the formation of different objects, working largely in oil. Terzian began to view his subjects as a symphony of colours and shapes and sought to express the overall dynamism in each of his paintings.

Georges Terzian drew much from his travels in his youth. Visiting North Africa a number of times, the continent’s striking colours and vivacious culture are evident in the artist’s vibrant palette, decorative designs and references to traditional art forms. On travelling to Barcelona in the early 1960s, Terzian describes viewing the Picasso Museum as “a revelation!” Around the same time Terzian also visited Russia which similarly had a lasting effect on his work. Living in Moscow for several months he was hugely inspired by the two and three dimensional spatial ideals of the Constructivists. It was after this period of travel that Terzian decided to abandon his previous interest in figurative painting and to focus entirely on the structural compositions that have since dominated his style.

Georges Terzian was, and remains, an adamantly independent artist. For many years he made his singing career public but kept his painting to himself. Despite this, art and music were never deeply separated in Terzian’s life and references to his singing career run clearly through all of his works. Collectively they depict an exuberant summary of Terzian’s whirlwind life of music, cabaret and bars.

Georges Terzian during National Service in Algiers, 1959

Georges Terzian married in 1977 and had a son two years later. His family settled in Paris where he continues to live with his wife today. Terzian still paints persistently. Having exhibited in a number of solo exhibitions in Paris, his works have been acquired by many public and private collectors in France and further afield. Since his solo exhibition held at Galerie Giovanni, Paris, 2007, Terzian’s work has drawn wider international attention and has developed a strong presence on the secondary market in London, Paris and New York.

Montmartre, gouache on canvas, 38 x 46 cm

Untitled, gouache on cardboard, 35 x 24 cm An early example of Georges Terzian’s post-cubism.

La Butte Montmartre, gouache on canvas, 38 x 46 cm Two early scenes of Paris painted before Georges Terzian developed his post-cubist style.

Untitled, pencil on paper, 21 x 14 cm A pencil study by Georges Terzian.

Composition Cubiste, oil on canvas, 50 x 61 cm

L’As de Coeur, oil on canvas, 55 x 38 cm

Carafe a l’As de Trèfle, oil on canvas, 92 x 65 cm

Le Sabre à la Bouteille, oil on canvas, 92 x 73 cm

Le Damier, oil on canvas, 65 x 54 cm

Les Deux Bouteilles, oil on canvas, 65 x 50 cm

Le Verre à L’Éventail, oil on canvas, 46 x 33 cm

Pipe à l’As de Trèfle, oil on canvas, 48 x 31 cm

Pipe et Verre, oil on board, 38 x 46 cm

La Carte Ă Jouer, oil on canvas, 55 x 38 cm

Madame Cerise, oil on canvas, 55 x 38 cm

Pomme et Poire, oil on canvas, 55 x 38 cm

La Pipe RenversĂŠe, oil on canvas, 55 x 38 cm

Les Deux Pommes, oil on canvas, 50 x 61 cm

Pipe Fumante, oil on canvas, 46 x 55 cm

La Cocotte, oil on canvas, 65 x 50 cm

Bouteille au Raisin, oil on canvas, 46 x 65 cm

Le Trèfle, oil on canvas, 60 x 73 cm

Composition, oil on canvas, 55 x 46 cm

Les FenĂŞtres, gouache on canvas, 65 x 50 cm

Tricolore, oil on canvas, 81 x 54 cm

Le Pierrot, oil on canvas, 92 x 73 cm

Personnages, oil on canvas, 73 x 60 cm

La Balance, oil on canvas, 60 x 92 cm

Le Cornet, oil on canvas, 55 x 46 cm

Le Cercle, oil on canvas, 55 x 46 cm

La Composition au Verre, oil on canvas, 55 x 46 cm

La Belle Lettre, oil on canvas, 65 x 50 cm

Sans Titre, oil on canvas, 65 x 54.5 cm

Sans Titre, oil on canvas, 90 x 116.5 cm

L’Oeil Jaune, oil on canvas, 73 x 54 cm

Homme à la Pipe, oil on canvas, 100 x 81 cm

Homme Masqué, oil on canvas, 55 x 46 cm

L’Homme aux Deux Guitares, oil on canvas, 120 x 60 cm

La Miss, oil on canvas, 61 x 50 cm

Le Regard, oil on canvas, 73 x 60 cm

Femme Ă la Mandoline, oil on canvas, 89 x 59 cm

Visage, oil on canvas, 65 x 54 cm

Homme Assis, oil on canvas, 48 x 31 cm

Le Couple, oil on canvas, 41 x 27 cm

Madame et le Compotier, oil on canvas, 55 x 46 cm

Couple Imaginaire, oil on canvas, 100 x 81 cm

Triple Visage, oil on canvas, 65 x 54 cm

Composition, oil on canvas, 55 x 46 cm

La Fenêtre, oil on canvas, 65 x 54.5 cm

La Guitare Cassée, oil on canvas, 55 x 38 cm

La Guitare Verte, oil on canvas, 65 x 50 cm

Le Tapis au Grand Verre, oil on canvas, 55 x 46 cm

Cruche au Piano, oil on canvas, 92 x 60 cm

La Madonne, oil on canvas, 73 x 60 cm

Guitare et Carafe, oil on canvas, 65 x 46 cm

Guitare et Bouteille, oil on canvas, 61 x 46 cm

Le Violon, oil on canvas, 61 x 50 cm

Les Deux Guitares, oil on canvas, 44 x 29 cm

La Belle de Nuit, oil on canvas, 41 x 35 cm

La Mandoline, oil on canvas, 55 x 46 cm

La Guitare au Panier, oil on canvas, 65 x 50 cm

Compotier aux Assiettes, oil on canvas, 73 x 60 cm

La Bouteille Verte, oil on canvas, 92 x 65 cm

Les Deux Fleurs, oil on canvas, 100 x 65 cm

Violon et Verre Blanc, oil on canvas, 65 x 50 cm

Sans Titre, oil on canvas, 65 x 54.5 cm

Sans Titre, oil on canvas, 116 x 81 cm

La Flèche, oil on canvas, 92 x 65 cm

La Machine, oil on canvas, 60 x 81 cm

La Soucoupe, oil on board, 38 x 55 cm

Le Pendule, oil on canvas, 65 x 50 cm

Madame Jules, oil on canvas, 92 x 73 cm

Le Vitrail, oil on canvas, 81 x 54 cm

Le Petit Pantin, oil on canvas, 55 x 38 cm

L’Atelier, oil on canvas, 46 x 33 cm

Le Damier Rouge, oil on canvas, 47 x 38 cm

La Machine à Café, oil on canvas, 55 x 38 cm

Sans Titre, oil on canvas, 146 x 114 cm

Sans Titre, oil on canvas, 117 x 100.5 cm

Le Bar, oil on canvas, 73 x 60 cm

Agadir, oil on canvas, 46 x 38 cm

Jeune Fille au Bistrot, oil on canvas, 116 x 81 cm

Carnaval Ă Venise, oil on canvas, 81 x 100 cm

Paris-Paname, oil on canvas, 55 x 38 cm

Georges Terzian, Paris, 2009

“Mon travail est né d’un mélange d’inspirations des maîtres Constructivistes et des Cubistes. De ces influences, j’ai développé ma propre peinture et travaillé pendant plusieurs années sans relâche avec le soutien permanent et sans faille de la Galerie Giovanni et la rencontre avec Alon Zakaim Fine Art, qui ont été déterminants.

Je tiens à remercier mon neveux Giovanni pour sa confiance ainsi que Monsieur Alon Zakaïm qui a travaillé à l’élaboration de ce catalogue.”

“My work is born of a cocktail of inspiration from the Constructivists and the Cubist masters. From these influences I have developed my own painting and have worked strenuously for many years with the constant encouragement of Galerie Giovanni and more recently Alon Zakaim Fine Art.

I wish to thank my nephew Giovanni for his confidence in me and Mr Alon Zakaim for publishing this catalogue.”

Georges Terzian, 2010

Georges Terzian, 2010

Š Alon Zakaim Fine Art Printed London, 2010 Text: Anstice Oakeshott With special thanks to Madame Josette Antin & Galerie Giovanni, Paris

30 Cork Street, London, W1S 3NG, T + 44 (0)20 7287 7750 F + 44 (0)20 7287 7751 gallery@alonzakaim.com www.alonzakaim.com