The 99° Art Center has continually sought greater international artistic exchanges. When the huge watercolor works of Chiu Hsiente attracted the attention of internationally known gallerist Daniel Besseiche, who recognized their potential for development internationally, the result was a bilateral exchange agreement between Besseiche and 99° Art Center, through which well-known French artists represented by Besseiche such as Gerard Altmann, Igor Bitman, and Livio Benedetti would receive their first Asian exposure through 99° Art Center's Shanghai branch. Altmann, who is now 87, is one of Europe's masters; Livio Benedetti, at 64, is a French sculptor of Italian extraction; and Igor Bitman, now 57, is a well-known French painter with Russian origins. The Shanghai showing of their work gives us all a rare chance to study at first hand the accomplishments of these master artists.


Gerard ALTMANN

Family Background

Altmann was born in Paris in 1923, the son of noted architect Armand Altmann. His grandfather, Alexander Altmann was a well-known early 20th century Parisian painter.
Altmann's forbears all were accomplished artists, and his home provided him with an artistic environment in his early years that allowed him to meet many artists. His studies, however, were interrupted by the Second World War, during which period he spent time at farming and factory work.

Education and Artistic Transformation

After the war, Altmann took up residence at the artists quarters at Cite Falguiere, where a Professor Auclair, taught him the basics of observation and composition. He also met numerous different artists, absorbing their styles and creating his own synthesis. He worked with theater professionals, and studied theater and mime himself. He met Marcel Marceau, and along with several other artists, engaged in construction of marionettes and scenery and props for the stage. In 1951 he decided his would be the life of an artist. He greatly admired the work of Vlaminck and also made the acquaintance of Cezanne, famous for his paintings of nature scenes.
In 1952 Altmann took up residence in southern France and began showing his work. He returned to Paris in 1957, then embarked on a touring exhibition that took him around the world, showing his work in Begium, the Netherlands, New York, Paris, and Marseilles, receiving an enthusiastic response.
In 1983 Altmann discovered Belle ile en Mer, the island that provided him with an endless source of creative ideas. It is the inspiration he found there that has done so much to make his work treasured.


Igor Bitman

Stylistic Outlook

Bitman seeks to create an enduring classicism. Through his efforts and intellectual exploration during the creative process, Bitman produces a kind of personal mysticism free of any ideological tinge. Bitman's strong attachment to the traditional is reflected in his work.
In Bitman's work we find a resonance between line and the human figure, or may see still life elements juxtaposed with scenic elements in a way that reflects the frailty of the ephemeral. Bitman creates a feeling of fullness with subtle chiaroscuro effects that are melded perfectly into the expression and backgrounds of his subjects.
Bitman once said that he deliberately studied classical painters of the ages, just as Balthus once studied Poussin, and finds himself still amazed by the work of the Renaissance painters. This outlook—the emphasis on a the continuity of a classical tradition—has influenced all of Bitman's work, and can be found the themes that frequently appear in his work, such as reclining female figures. But as times change, these universal themes adopt new forms in different generations, and the artist must respond with sensitivity to the mark of time's passage, which influences him too.


Livio BENEDETTI

Family Background

Born in 1946 in Verona, Italy, Benedetti later lived in the Savoy region of France. From his father, who was a craftsman, he inherited the ability to create a feeling of harmony within a finished work.
The mountainous region where he grew up imbued Benedetti with a feel for primitive beauty, though not unconnected with human desires and existence, and the ability to respond to his surroundings led to the creation of a unique artistic world with an emphasis on the living form and figure.

Education

Benedetti began to display artistic ability in elementary school. His talent was discovered by artist Jean Chapperon from nearby Chambray, who taught him habits of observation that he would have been unable to learn in school.
During his service in the military, Benedetti began work on a series of sculpture portrait busts. Following this first attempt, he was encouraged by the praise he received from sculptor Robert Danas. In 1975 he opened his first studio for sculpting, and later moved his studio to an abandoned sheep farm in the Gresivaudan area.


Style and Tone in Benedetti's Sculpture

Livio Benedetti's sculptures given an impression of serenity and satisfying fullness, a feeling that contrasts markedly with a certain soundless, bleak atmosphere projected by their bronze materials. This contrast signals the growing maturity of his art, his mastery of its direction and the deep conceptualization embodied in it.
Benedetti on the one hand loves smooth, lustrous materials, whether they be marble, bronze, or stone, and in the lines that emerge softly from these materials he finds the perfect expression of the contours of a face. At the same time, he seeks to incorporate a sense of shadow, which can be found in the geometric elements that are also absorbed into his work.
Portrait busts occupy a significant place in Benedetti's oeuvre, and project a tangible sense of strength and independence. His bronzes often reflect two kinds of outlook, a conservativism and a sense of reserve, but within figures whose often slender and elongated dynamics nevertheless project a vital energy.
Within the spaces of his work Benedetti expresses the intersection and collision of lines along with a flowing sense of the bodily lines and facial contours, the juxtaposition of the two helping to express the unique lyrical feel of this artist.
Benedetti's works have a definite inner strength through which they seem to break loose from the confines of ordinary reality and enter into the realm of the timeless and eternal.


Fonda Hsu
Director of 99° Art Center