Composition 5, 1972

Gustav Bolin  

Gustav Bolin's family, which was of Russian origins, settled in France in 1921. At age 18, Gustav was part of Emile Othon Friesz 's courses at the Academy de la Grande Chaumière. When he returned from Stockholm in 1940, France was invaded which forced him to settle in the south. During this period, landscapes were his greatest source of inspiration, this led him to study Cezanne's paintings. Finally back in Paris in 1943, he borrowed the studio of Pierre Tal-Coat, frequented the Café de Flore, where he met great Parisian artists such as Picasso, Nicolas de Stael and Diego Giacometti. At that time, he painted numerous portraits of his family and friends.

The artist did his first solo exhibition at the Pierre Loeb Gallery in 1948, which allowed him to become known among critics and the public. His fame went beyond national borders and he began exhibiting in Stockholm, New York and Tokyo. In 1973, the Galliera Museum in Paris exposed is work. Gustav Bolin died in August 1999 in Antibes.

In 2006, Paris honored him with a retrospective of his work at the Salon of Tapestries and at the exhibition hall of the Louvre des antiquaires .