Abraham Mintchine

Who is Abraham Mintchine?

Abraham Mintchine, was a French painter.

At 13, Mintchine was apprenticed to a goldsmith in Kiev. He began painting from the age of 16. In 1923, he left Russia for Berlin where he designed sets and costumes for the Jewish theatre. At the time of his first exhibition in Berlin he displayed some works that critics defined as of a style close to Cubism.

He arrived in Paris around 1925. In extreme poverty, married with a child, he was observed by the art dealer René Gimpel, who wrote in his journal: "I have bought about 35 of his canvasses, some are quite uneven, but that in itself is some proof of talent ...he barely managed to scrape a 100 sous to live on; he wouldn't eat, and, dying of hunger would say to his wife: Eat, Mintchine isn't hungry. Now, that he's achieved a measure of comfort and his health has deteriorated, he continues to deprive himself for his wife saying:Mintchine doesn't need anything. "