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Alain Bertrand’s Taos Pueblo, 81x100cms |
Camden Feature| Review of Alain Bertrand' s exhibition at The Catto Gallery
Alain Bertrand’s passion for jazz and ostentatious cars fuels his illustrative genius, writes Gerald Isaaman
FROM his paintings and posters you would think he was an American, steeped in its culture of flashy fast cars amid neon lights and spotlighted skyscrapers, who spends his nights engulfed in the music of jazz amid booze and bars.
Yet Alain Bertrand, as his name reveals, was born outside Paris in 1946 and got his taste for all things American from a nearby air base. That’s where he discovered Elvis Presley, rock’n’roll and, in particular, those big chunky American automobiles of the post-war years
He worked for Renault for more than a decade, then his natural artistic talent turned to drawings for comic books, among them Tintin and Pilote, as well as cars. And then he set off for the States in 1976 in search of his American dream, earning his living creating record covers and film posters for the likes of directors Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg.
And now you can see the latest delights of his illustrative genius at the Catto Gallery, in Heath Street, Hampstead, where a solo exhibition of 30 of his evocative paintings of gleaming cars and jazz musicians in smokey dives is currently on show.
They are part of the American Dream series he has created for a new book called American Classic. And with prices starting at £5,950, sales of his Catto pictures have already topped £100,000 with amazing speed.
“Alain’s work has a freshness that takes it’s lead from Pop Art with its highly finished graphic look and his celebration of the American way of life,” says Gillian Catto, owner and curator of the Catto Gallery. “His work is immediately recognisable and highly sought after by international collectors. We are thrilled to welcome him here.”
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