Zelman Otchakovsky ou l’histoire d’un peintre bessarabien en France

The article is a continuation of the research devoted to the visual art of Bessarabia and its representatives, whose creative path unfolded in several European countries. The article „Les dernières années du peintre Zelman en Provence” was published in the journal Provence historique (2023, p.469-485) by Professor François OtchakovskyLaurens, the nephew of the artist, and is devoted to the last works by Zelman. Zelman Otchakovsky (born in 1905, in Romanovca village, Bender county; - since 1945, lived in Nyons, France), studied at the School of Fine Arts at Şneer Cogan between 1919-1923, taking courses at the Ranson Academy in Roger Bissiere’s workshop in 1935, where he got acquanted with his future friends Jean Le Moal, Etienne Martin, Francois Stahly and Jean Bertholle, with whom he will carry out several monumental painting projects. After studying at the Ranson Academy, Zelman, together with his friends, participated in two Parisian exhibitions, in 1938 and 1939, as part of the Temoignage group. In 1939 he coordinated the painting of the ceiling for the French Pavilion of the New York International Exposition. Few works by this painter have been preserved, two of which are kept at the Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon (Figure with a ball and Isoteric figure, attributed to the beginning of 1940 and 9 of the works belonging to the Salsas family from Houte-Savoie, created in the years 1937-1943, generously offered by the artist’s grandson.