Pierre Guastalla, born in Saint-Cloud on August 5, 1891, son of Élie and Louise-Henriette, obtained an engineering degree from the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in 1912. Mobilized during the First World War, he received the Croix de Guerre and several honorary distinctions.
After the war, he devoted himself to art, studying at the Académie Ranson under Jacques Beltrand. He became a very prolific engraver, producing around 600 woodcuts, etchings, drypoints, and lithographs on a variety of themes such as landscapes, seascapes, and nudes. He exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants and saw his works included in several museums.
In 1929, he co-founded the Jeune Gravure contemporaine and received praise from Gustave Kahn and Paul Fierens. Also an author, he published aTreatise on aestheticsin 1928 and a travel diary,Aix-en-Provence and the Sainte-Victoire Mountain, in 1965. He died in Paris on October 8, 1968, leaving a major legacy in the world of engraving and illustration.
