Born into a wealthy artistic family in Damville, Eure, he was influenced from a young age by his maternal grandfather, Émile Frédéric Nicolle, an amateur artist. After completing secondary education at the Lycée Corneille in Rouen, he pursued law studies at the University of Paris while developing his artistic passion.
In 1903, he helped organize the drawing section of the first Salon d'Automne in Paris and began exhibiting his works. Influenced by Edgar Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec, he gradually evolved from Fauvism to Cubism, a movement in which he became a key figure.
Mobilized during the First World War, he fought on the Champagne and Artois fronts before working in the camouflage department. This experience enriched his thinking on visual perception. After the conflict, he devoted himself to the study of scientific theories on color and movement, integrating these concepts into his pictorial work.
His fame grew in the 1930s, particularly in the United States, and he joined the Abstraction-Création group in 1932. The exhibition organized by the Louis Carré gallery in 1944 marked a turning point in his recognition. He successively received the Carnegie Prize in 1950 and the Grand Prize at the Venice Biennale in 1956.
His later years were marked by international exhibitions and prestigious commissions, notably for the stained-glass windows of Metz Cathedral. He died in Puteaux in 1963, but his artistic legacy remains celebrated for its integrity and innovations in the exploration of Cubism and printmaking.
Retry
