Victor Bertani - Painter

1923 -1998

 
 
Victor Bertani, painter, was born in Strasbourg, France on December 31, 1923, the son of emigrants from northern Italy.
He lived in the historic center of Strasbourg, the Petite France district until he decided to pursue his art education in Italy.  He studied at the Paolo Toschi Art Institute in Parma and at the Accademia delle Belle Arti of Brera in Milan.
In 1952 he married an American, Erminia Alma Botti, also the daughter of emigrants from northern Italy.  They returned to Strasbourg to live and it is here his son Henri was born in 1954.
He painted and exhibited extensively in France: in Strasbourg,  Metz, Colmar, Mulhouse, Lille, and Saverne.  He also exhibited in Paris at the Salon de L’Art Libre and at the Italian Chamber of Commerce and abroad in Luxembourg, Germany and Italy.  Bertani’s paintings are in many private collections throughout the world.  Most notable his works are in the collection of Hans Haug, former curator of the City Museums of Strasbourg and in the collection of the former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing.
In 1970 he returned to Italy to restore the old family home with the help of his friend, the renowned architect Ettore Rulli.
While living in Strela his work was exhibited in Parma, Ravenna, Rimini, Salsomaggiore, Verona, Sirmione, Pontremoli and Milan. He made the acquaintance of the famous gallery owner, Renzo Cortina, who bought his paintings and had also planned for an exhibit of the artist‘s work.  Bertani also continued to exhibit in France and in Germany.
Sadly, in 1985 his beloved wife Alma died.  In the years following her death, Bertani continue his many sojourns to his favorite pictorial areas, Venice, Sardinia and Provence, which were so vital to his work. He painted to the very end of his life.
He died on January 27, 1998,  at 74 years of age, in his home in Strela di Compiano.