George Rouault 1871 - 1958

The family background of Georges ROUAULT (Paris 1871 / 1958) destined him to be an artisan, and he began as a glass painter, an apprenticeship that marked the rest of his life.

After having attended the Ecole des arts-décoratifs, he enrolled in the Ecole des beaux-arts in Gustave Moreau's studio, whose influence on him proved to be important. After two failed attempts at the prix de Rome, he left the Ecole des beaux-arts to dedicate himself to a style inspired by human suffering. In fact, after a brief interest in fauvism, Rouault evolved toward a more somber art, darker in both the palette and the subjects, often abrasive.

The painter remained faithful to a style full of spirituality and humanity, and after 1918 he left watercolour in favour of oil and developped a synthetic and hieratic style, in which flat surfaces and contours show a growing influence from stained glass art. Rouault was also interested in ceramics, illustration, and engraving, but despite his rigorous and determined efforts, it was not until just before the Second World War that he finally became famous.