New York Times – Daniel Brustlein, 92, a 'Painter's Painter'

 
 

Daniel Brustlein, a painter who also worked as a cartoonist under the name of Alain, died on July 14 at his home in Paris. He was 92.

Mr. Brustlein was born in the Alsatian town of Mulhouse, then held by Germany, and studied art at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Geneva. He moved to the United States and became an American citizen in 1933. Two years later he began drawing for The New Yorker. His cartoons, signed "Alain," appeared regularly in the magazine until 1960, when the artist moved to France.

Considered a "painter's painter," Mr. Brustlein was known for deftly executed works whose subjects and delicate paint handling were closely aligned with the School of Paris. He had his first solo show in New York at the Stable Gallery in 1955.

His most recent New York exhibition was at the Kouros Gallery in 1988, where he also held several joint exhibitions with his wife, the painter Janice Biala, whom he had married in 1953.