Literature

Serge Mendjisky was born in Paris in 1929. He was the son of the artist Maurice Mendjisky, a member of the École de Paris, and grew up surrounded by the many artist friends of his father.

After participating in the Liberation of Paris in 1944 from the German occupation he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1947. He approached the animator Paul Grimault to learn the art of cartoons, before participating in the realisation of the highly acclaimed film La Bergère et le Ramoneur, created by Paul Grimault and written by the poet Jacques Prévert.

In 1949 Serge Mendjisky moved to Nice and renewed his acquaintance with the artists Jacques Villon, Dunoyer de Segonzac and Pablo Picasso, all friends of his father, who each encouraged him in his painting.

Whilst working at a photogravure studio he continued to paint and in 1959 had his first exhibition at the Galerie St-Placide, Paris. This was followed by two exhibitions in the USA in 1960, the first in New York and the second in Beverly Hills. By 1964 his use of exuberant and vivid colours had led him to the Neo Impressionist technique of Divisionism, aiming to increase the luminosity of the painting by using pure colours and allowing complementary colours to create the vibratory effect of shimmering light. For most of his career he continued to express his love of the intense light and colour of the South of France in this manner, only turning his attention to photo collage much later in his career.

Serge Mendjisky has a very long career exhibiting worldwide, from his first exhibition in Paris in 1959 until a few years before his death in 2017. He exhibited at major galleries in Paris, South of France, USA, Japan, Australia, Switzerland, Israel and Venezuela. He also had exhibitions in London with Frost & Reed, Richmond Gallery and Bruton Street Gallery.

His paintings are represented in 25 International Museums including   Museum of Modern Art in Paris, Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Puskin Museum of Fine Art in Moscow. During his career many of his paintings were purchased by many famous international collectors of art such as the Prince Aga Khan, Nelson Rockefeller, Marcel Pagnol, President Kennedy, President Ford, Sir Charles Forte and Edward G. Robinson, to name a few.