"Alexandre Istrati (1915 – 1991 ) was a Franco-Romanian painter. He won numerous prizes, including 1953 the Prix Kandinsky.
Alexandre Istrati was born in 1915 and died in 1991 in Paris. At the early age of nine, Istrati began to paint, but he decided to study at the University of Bucharest from 1932-1937. In 1938 Istrati received his diploma from the art academy of Bucharest where he was a professor until 1947. He married the Romanian painter Natalia Dumitresco in 1939. Alexandre Istrati received many awards for his work in Bucharest. Because of a scholarship in 1947, Istrati and his wife were able to move to Paris where they established themselves. Istrati studied with Andre L'hote at the Ecole de Beaux in Paris. Istrati and Dumitresco befriended the sculptor Constantin Brancusi, and worked in a studio next door until Brancusi's death in 1957. "(askart.com)
