Pierre Bittar: French Impressionist Artist

Articles on Pierre Bittar

Newspapers and Magazines

1. The life of Pierre Bittar is based on a conscious choice of freedom. He lives in accord with his beliefs and feelings, in harmony with his personal taste. He decided to live as an artist, refusing both servitude and surrender. This highly sensitive artist, passionately attached to animate and inanimate life, is devoted to the expression of the eternal poetry of nature. He transposes in a simple, sober manner the infinite faces of nature, guided by a fine sense of observation, whose expression is not marred by sentimentality nor deformed by exaggeration. A Pierre Bittar painting is a door opening into marvels of nature. It is a stroll down a garden path in dappled light, plunging into the rich green extravagance of foliage. It is the whisper of the wind in the trees, the soft murmur of snow falling. Bittar's shows compose an enchanting invitation to contemplate Heaven and earth, trees and seasons. This intensely poetic content is sustained by a perfect technical mastery, a highly developed sense of proportions and graphic finesse.

Neither purist or surrealist, the artistic temperament of Pierre Bittar is proudly indifferent to changing fashion and independent of schools and tendencies. Installing his easel solidly in the heart of his subject, he sketches, establishes the values and the scope of his painting, which is executed with a delicate power that inspires us to share his emotions. Remarkable for his mastery of color and distinguished by this combination of vigor and sensitivity, Bittar is thoroughly devoted to his art; painting according to his feelings and a personal sense of truth, he expresses his love for the beautiful, inspired by a depth of accumulated perceptions and emotional experience. Gifted with technical skill brought to a maturity and inspired by a sensitivity that has not been dulled by formal instruction. Pierre Bittar invites us to travel with him across time and space towards his marvelous inner world, bearing a message of love and beauty.
Can we doubt that this expression of faith lifts Pierre Bittar up to the ranks of authentic poets and communicates the vitality of his convictions?"
Claude Dorval · Le Pont des Arts · 1982

2. "Faithful to the first Impressionists, Pierre Bittar can only express himself in the open space of nature. When he paints the sea for example, the sensation of a surging surf influences both his color and structure. It is more like an inner music for which he is projecting the rhythm and the melody. Upon inspecting his paintings at close range, we noticed that his subject matter is secondary. Several lines of force are used to structure space and assure equilibrium, then quickly he enters the kingdom of color. Light in his work reigns as absolute master. If we carefully study the work of Pierre Bittar it is impossible to perceive the ultimate goal. The forms are in comprehensible. Only juxtaposed touches can suggest vague conformation. The work only opens up to our gaze later on, waiting for us to gain a little distance to see and feel the things emanating form the heart. To work, therefore, Bittar never seeks the subject. What preoccupies him exclusively is light. 'Whether it be a bouquet of flowers, a face, or nature, I see light.' His pictorial execution opens an important and unlimited participative field, for it requires synthesizing all these touches of organized light and in this way the restructuring of space of the painting into a sphere where emotion, always different, creates a response from the viewer. For Bittar, that is the first and irreducible necessity of art. It is for him the key to the grandeur of Impressionism. Having known how to invent dynamics in the matter of painting, capable of speaking exclusively to the hearts of beings. It required years to dominate this light of which he speaks."
Didier Henry · Art Actualities Magazine · Paris, 1993

3. "... a particular tenderness in the colors, a finesse in the relationships charms and seduces from the very first contact. His palette brings a lyrical quality to his pigments"
Toutes Les Nouvelles de Versailles · April 17, 1974

4. "... The paintings are grouped around the works of the honorary Guest, Pierre Bittar. This neo-impressionist par excellence, widely known and appreciated, can rise on occasion to the heights of the greatest 19th century Impressionists."
Les Nouvelles de Versailles · January 30, 1985

5. "... The impressionism of our Honorary Guest, Pierre Bittar, is an invitation to enchantment; rich in poetic content, his works are executed with perfect technical mastery."
Edition Conflans-Sainte-Honorine · November 28, 1984

6. "... using a technique of an infinity of slight brush strokes developed by the original Impressionists, Pierre Bittar gives us works in which we can inhale the fresh odors of the underwood in springtime, and the melancholy humidity, hushed poetry, peaceful softness of falling snow."
Le Nouveau Journal · June 4, 1982

7. "... Bittar believes the only way to capture nature's beauty is to be in communion with it. For this reason, he paints all of his landscapes on location and avoids in-door studios."
Jim Heil · Charlevoix County Press · August 10, 1983

8. "... The many moods of nature are dominant in the works of Pierre Bittar. His love of nature is reflected in every canvas and by his devotion to be true to it. He paints on location in the out-of-doors to capture even the must subtle of light play and mood. His distinctive use of the palette knife adds a freshness to his impressionistic paintings. His sense of nature is so acute as to spark in the viewer sensations of past emotions."
This Week in the Palm Beaches · January 26, 1980

Art Critics

"Because it was urgent to break away from a declining academicism, Claude Monet exhibited his "Sunrise" in 1874. Impressionism was born. His provocative star was viewed as a passing meteor...rather shocking. We know today what ensued...the works that emanated from this art school are the most cherished, the most sought and the most expensive in the world."However, not every artist that wants to become an Impressionist painter can succeed. There is nothing more difficult to communicate than a personal and volatile impression. It requires a sensitivity as vibrant as the sound of the violins string. Some artist were and are granted this gift from God and they must strive to share the grace of this gift. Pierre Bittar is one of these privileged artists.Yet talent is not enough. The effort is great as the artist stands in front of his easel but he cannot just dip his brush into colors. He must be able to communicate to his canvas all the vibrancy of colors, shades, shadows and contours that make the outcome so luminous. The magic of creativity comes into play as the artist expresses the overflowing and irresistible tide of power, color, light and perfect harmony.In the manner of the great Impressionists, Pierre Bittar also works out of doors. No matter the climate, sometimes braving extreme cold or heat. As he paints his eyes are full of the sight he is viewing but he is also moved by his other senses...hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting the atmosphere that surrounds him. All of these things combined help him to interpret the landscape or seascape he is painting. The result of this alchemy is that the painting breathes life and the viewer experiences this phenomenon. From this exchange of vibrations is born the most subtle of connection between the hand and heart of the artist and the gaze of the spectator. Bittar, the portraitist uses the same methods as in his landscapes. Only in portraits, he insinuates the intricacies of the personality of his model. As the brook sings, the snow falls, the light flutters across the land...by the same manner, it is the essence of the soul that is diffused on the painted features of the man or woman, revealing their secrets."
Phillip Cruymans · Figaro Art Critic · 1990

Galleries

The Wally Findlay Galleries, which specialize in Impressionism, wrote the following about Pierre Bittar: "Although inspired by the French Impressionists, Pierre Bittar has been able to achieve the almost impossible. By developing a totally distinctive style he has redefined the tenet of classic Impressionism. Light and atmosphere are fused with luminous colors to create compositions that abound with the smell and feel of the great outdoors. The artist, who could be called, and rightfully so, a leader of Contemporary Impressionism, believes that 'an artist establishes a communion between himself and nature which depends on the awareness of all the senses. To accomplish this he must call upon the maximum of all the human emotion one possesses'."