Chatin Sarachi - Sarachi As A Painter

Sarachi As A Painter

Chatin Sarachi first went to England on a diplomatic mission in 1933. In fact, the occupation of Albania from the Italian army coincides with Chatin's position as First Secretary of the Albanian Embassy in London, where he became a well-known painter. Within a few years he had decided to remain in London and gave up his diplomatic career to concentrate on painting.

In 1939 Sarachi met the great expressionist artist Oskar Kokoschka. Kokoschka became a close friend and admirer of Sarachi as well as a constant influence on his work. They shared a Kensington studio in Stratford Road, not far from the Pride Gallery, and worked together leaving as a witness of their friendship, many drawings and paintings of each other.

In the press of that period, his name is mentioned among the best representatives of English Impressionism, including Oscar Kokoschka. The landscapes, the still lifes, and the flower paintings of Sarachi, exude a vibrant quality with a strictly personal use of colour and tone, achieved through his mastery of watercolors and pastels. In addition, his delicate line drawings indicate that Sarachi was also greatly influenced by Oriental art.

Sarachi's first personal exhibition was held in the aftermath of the Second World War (1945) at the Redfern Gallery, in London. In the folder advertising this exhibition there was written the phrase: "The miracles can still happen in the slaughterhouse of agony, crime and corruption that best describes our world. This is the message that the paintings of Chatin Sarachi express."which we think to be very suitable to his work and personality".

On the Catalogue of the exhibition, among other things, Kokoschka states:

"A contemporary painter with whom the larger public has not yet become acquainted does well to make his own decision of what he thinks the message, contained in his work, will be to those who are to greet him as the morning star.

"In the oils and drawings exhibited by Chatin Sarachi here is the work of a former diplomat whom one mighty moment has blessed. Who, at a sudden, was reminded of the time when, as a child, he trod the rude shore and the bare ground of his native Albania."

This first exhibition was followed by other two, in the mid fifties. A fourth, commemorating one, with fifty of his best paintings was opened in 1975. It included drawings, oil and water paintings, of landscapes, still lives, and several portraits. In the opening of this exhibition J.P. Hodin concludes with saying that Chatin Sarachi " …was a very good friend, an elaborate artist and one of the most colourful personalities ever known. He liked the high life but, at the same time, was so introspective. He had great artistic ambitions but little interest in criticism". Over the years, Sarachi participated in several group shows and had regular one man exhibitions in London, Paris and Dublin.

The last exhibition of his work was held at the Pride Gallery in London in 1988. Today, the work of Chatin is considered to be closely connected to Expressionism although his knowledge and appreciation included influences of Japanese and Chinese painters. This influence can be noticed quite clearly in some of his masterpieces, as are the flower paintings.