Born in Romania, Paul Ackerman was 4 years old when his parents moved to Paris in 1912, choosing to flee the ambient anti-Semitism. In the 1930s, he frequented Fernand Léger's workshop, designing poster, fabric and jewelry projects for Elsa Schiaparelli and Marcel Rochas. Taken prisoner then released during the Second World War, he took refuge in the south-east where he formed a great friendship with Pierre Bonnard.

At the Liberation he returned to his Parisian studio, frequented Jean-Michel Atlan, Jean Dubuffet, Serge Poliakoff and Alexandre Garbell. Classified among the artists of the New School of Paris, his painted work oscillates between abstraction - in the 50s and 60s - and the figuration that he practiced throughout his...