Alain Bar

Born in 1947, he is a French printmaker specializing in intaglio, with a passion for the themes of sports and jazz. Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Valence, he discovered jazz there—a key source of his artistic inspiration. A former athlete, he expresses the beauty of movement in his art, stripping his subjects down to pure lines that capture the gestural energy of the athlete.

He masters several techniques—etching, aquatint, burin, and drypoint—demonstrating his expertise in the alchemy of engraving on metal plates. He has received numerous awards, including the Grand Prix de France for Visual Arts, the Henri-Desgrange Prize, and honors at the Barcelona and Madrid Biennials, making him one of the leading figures in contemporary printmaking.

Founder of the publishing house Parole gravée, he creates and publishes high-quality artist books, combining his prints with texts and poetry. Today, he is regarded as a major master craftsman and has trained many young artists, leaving a lasting mark on the world of printed art.