axelle.com
Axelle Fine Arts Galerie
New York | Boston | San Francisco
cover | Buisson-fleures rouges 51” x 38” above | Plaine 47” x 47” opposite | Petit bouquet à la fenêtre 25½” x 15¾”
2 | Trois arbres au couchant 78½” x 78½” | 3
Born in 1954 in Bulgaria to a family of artists, Hadjiganev fantasized of an artistic Parisian existence throughout childhood. He studied photography in Sofia and was influenced by the work of his painter father and sculptor brother. However, he never forgot his ultimate goal: to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Therefore, at the age of 28, he left his native land and walked across the border. After numerous hardships, he finally reached Paris, where he eked out a hungry existence as a starving young artist. By 1987, however, his struggle paid off, he graduated from the prestigious Ecole, and his dream was fulfilled. His artistic peers in Paris quickly recognized Hadjiganev’s distinctive talent. In 1989, he became the recipient of the coveted Grand Prix de Peinture from the Academie des Beaux-Arts. Chosen from among one thousand artists, his paintings were shown all over France and Europe. In 1990, he received the Prix du Gouvernement Princier at the Salon International d’Art Contemporain in Monaco. The critical acclaim he has received has had little effect on the personality of this unassuming painter. When he starts a painting, “I do not know what is to come,” he said. “It is the canvas that decides—I am merely a tool. I become very small.”
But Hadjiganev’s talent is anything but small. The sparkling vistas of his landscapes spark feelings of longing and peace in the viewer. His photographic training is also evident in the composition of his interior work. He leads viewers into his paintings, often through a geometric shape. A window, a door, a table or the frame of a picture are all openings that capture a still moment within a limited visual frame while opening up a new perspective to the viewer. In addition, his elegant nudes exude a shy, intimate feeling of poetry and light. “I do not paint to make something pretty. I paint to put my heart in my paintings,” he explains.
As a minimalist, Hadjiganev captures the simple moments of daily life with only a few elements. With perfect technique and deep sensitivity, he freely transfigures reality to create a mysterious environment filled with grace. With harmony, loneliness of the soul and a peaceful nostalgia, Hadjiganev invites the viewer to meditate and dream.
His quiet strength and mastery of his craft are indeed reflected of his unforgettable work. His simple philosophy on life is the core of his work: “One does not need to say too much to say it all,” he explains.
4 | La salle de bain 51” x 51” Perché d’inverno è meglio 39” x 39”
Estivale 44¾” x 44¾” | 5 Fenêtre sur jardin 47” x 47”
Passage au vélo rouge 51” x 38” 6 | La grange 44¾” x 63¾”
8 | Orage 18” x 25½” Sur le plateau 44¾” x 63¾”
Gironde 38” x 76¾” | 9
I arrived in Normandy on a bitter morning with hopes to anchor my country living dreams. Albert greeted me across the street and was quick to invite me in for coffee by his fireplace. Over the years our frienship grew, while a glass of Chablis before dinner became a ritual and warmed each day I stole from Paris. With his wife Danielle, his children Emil and Grégor and random friends who would drop by, we shared privileged moments surrounded by his paintings. I became more familiar with his work as pieces changed.
At first I would sneak furtive glances at his canvasses while he would be immersed in passionate discussions. Quick looks only because looking openly would feel like I was trespassing – as if I had gone too far, or lingered too long in the intimacy of his world. Then one day he asked me to write about his painting, to put words to his works in a language I pretend I master in my articles. He wanted me to offer and expose my words in the same way he showed me his art.
Hesitant, I avoided his request for months. Why was it so difficult? He wasn’t asking for judgment or expert advice on his technique, choices or evolution. He just wanted words from a friend. A fair exchange, whereas my sentences would complement the emotions of his colors, transparencies and light throughout his painting. It would have been easier to talk about him—his stubbornness, mood swings, touchy generosity, shy astonishments, melancholic bouts or his manly pride. I could have recounted his Bulgarian childhood, his dreams as an adolescent, his burning desire to succeed while marching through forbidden territory, his breaching the Iron Curtain while a soldier he thought he knew held him at gunpoint—they stared at each other for seconds before he fired a shot in the air.
10 | Terre de Sienne 38” x 51” Canicule 44¾” x 63¾”
Le pin 35½” x 11¾”
He fled a world where self expression was not allowed. Resettlement and learning to live free was tough. From refugee camp to starting from scratch in a new country he knew nothing about, neither its language or customs. He endured years of hardship but kept his steadfast determination. Then finally, he was admitted to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Paris and earned his diploma. Success soon followed. All these steps could all be summed up in a few lines. The rest of the story is his. Beyond what can be said in a nutshell is a soul that speaks to the world through brushes and colors. Dark when Paris was difficult for him, increasingly luminous in the valleys of Normandy, or in Auvergne, at the foot of France’s dormant volcanoes. A windless sky wipes the horizon clean, a stone church clutches the heart, a bouquet of poppies with drooping heads, in remembrance of his father who also was an artist, a tree splashed in spring light, a path that winds out of sight, a coffee pot left haphazardly on a table edge, a bowl of wild mushrooms, a damp clearing in the woods, a silhouette in the shadows, far from the noise and murmurs that drift through the gaping door. Each painting teaches one to see, listen, hush up and ride the emotion of an instant that flickers with other memories—fugitive impressions and reminiscences. My eyes get lost in a canvas, clam-oring with light. I look away, look back, some wordless meaning has been conveyed, the emotion lingers. Albert hates nothing more than pomposity, he warns against over-interpretation, stamps out overstatement, rubs out repetition. No fancy dressing on reality. He grapples with what he sees, draws out its essence without ever trapping or stifling it. He presents it so others may find it, tame it, and make it theirs. And the feeling resonates and wakes the sleeping soul. Text by Christine Fauvet-Mycia, Le Figaro
12 | Silhouettes matinales 39” x 39” back cover | Interieur à l’escalier 76½” x 63”
S O L O E X H I B I T I O N S
2011
Naninck et Lengaigne- St.Omer
2010
Axelle Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Claudine Legrand Galerie, Paris
2009
Axelle Fine Arts, Chelsea, NY
2009
Axelle Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA
2008
AAART Foundation, Kirchberg-Kitzbuhël, Austria
Galerie Claudine Legrand, Paris
2007
Axelle Fine Arts Galerie Soho, NY
2006 Axelle Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA
2005
Galerie Felli, Paris, France
2004 Axelle Fine Arts Galerie Soho, NY
2003
Galerie de l’Europe, Paris
2002
Axelle Fine Arts Galerie Soho, NY
2000 Galerie Charvet, Ile de Ré
Galerie de l’Europe, Paris
1998
Abbaye de Molesmes, Bourgogne
Galerie Charvet, Ile de Ré
Galerie de Causans, Paris
1997
Galerie Guénégaud, Paris
Galerie La Salle Basse, Aix-les-bains
1996
Galerie Artis, Mulhouse
Galerie Guénégaud, Paris
1995
Galerie E. Baudet, Le Havre
Maison des Arts, Conches
Galerie de Causans, Paris
1994
Galerie du Crédit Agricole, Evreux
La Petite Galerie, Paris
1993
Abbaye de Molesmes, Bourgogne
Société Industrielle, Mulhouse
1992
Galerie Coard, Paris
Galerie Hélios, Honfleur
Cercle Europe, CNIT, Paris-Défense
Galerie Lavigne, Chablis
1991
Centro Culturale “San Fedele”- Milan
1990
Hôtel de Ville- Paris
Peinture Fraiche-Paris
1989
Galerie Peinture Fraiche- Paris
1985
Théatre Municipale-Darmstadt- Germany
S T U D I E S
77-82 Cours de Beaux-Arts, Sofia (Bulgaria)
1979
Diplômé de l’Ecole Nationale de Photo, Sofia
1982
Atelier de dessin et de peinture, Ville de Paris
83-87
Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris
1987
Diplômé Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
A W A R D S
1989
Grand Prix de Peinture de l’Académie des
Beaux-Arts et du Crédit Agricole
1990
Prix du Gouvernement de Monte Carlo
©2011 Alber
t Hadjig
ane
v. Al
l w
orks oil on canv
