Sacha Zaliok | 1887-1971

Life & Work

Born Alexander Davidovich Zaliouk in Radomysl (now Ukraine), Zaliouk trained in Odessa and briefly in Petrograd before moving to Paris around 1910. He completed his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts and entered the Montparnasse art world, part of the broader École de Paris community of immigrant artists.

During World War I he enlisted in the French army, rose to the artillery ranks, and received French citizenship. After the war he became known for quick, expressive portraiture and for capturing the personalities of Parisian writers, performers, and fellow artists—earning the nickname “the most Montparnassian of the Montparnos.”

His career moved between painting, magazine illustration, cabaret work, and social satire. He contributed to journals such as La Vie Parisienne, Fantasio, Sourire, and La Baïonnette, and participated in collective Montparnasse projects, including the artist group La Horde. The German occupation limited his work during World War II, yet he continued drawing into old age and remained anchored in Montparnasse until his death in 1971. All Zaliouk pieces in this archive come from original issues of La Baïonnette.

Political Focus

Zaliouk’s satire reflects his life as an émigré and veteran: alert to the self-importance of officials, the theatrics of military bureaucracy, and the gaps between patriotic rhetoric and daily reality. His wartime drawings for La Baïonnette often expose the absurdities of mobilization and the pressures placed on ordinary people.

In civilian scenes he turned the same observant eye toward the vanity and moral posturing of Parisian society. His humor is stylish but pointed, revealing how institutions and elites perform authority rather than embody it. Zaliouk’s work shows how authoritarian habits can grow quietly—in social rituals, cultural pretensions, and institutional theatrics—long before they harden into overt political power.