Georges Rouault (1871-1958) French, Framed Lithograph. Signed in image bottom right. Dated 1932 in image bottom left. Label on reverse with attribution, authentication, and title: "Les Visages." 

Overall Size: 15 1/2 x 18 1/4 in. 

Sight Size: 6 1/4 x 8 in. 

#4743  

Georges-Henri Rouault was born on May 27th, 1871 into a poor Parisian family whose home had been destroyed in the Paris Insurrection of that same year. His mother encouraged his love for the arts, and in 1885 Rouault entered an apprenticeship as a glass painter and restorer which lasted for five years. During this period he also attended evening classes at the School of Fine Arts, and in 1891 he entered the École des Beaux-Arts. There he studied under Gustave Moreau, and his earliest works show a symbolism in the use of color that reflects his influence. When Moreau died in 1898 Rouault had become his favorite pupil, and was nominated as the curator of the Moreau Museum in Paris. In 1894 Rouault won the Prix Chenavard, and from then on he took part in major public exhibitions, notably the Salon d’Automne (which he helped to found), where paintings with religious subjects, landscapes, and still lifes were shown. Rouault made close friendships with Henri Matisse, Albert Marquet, Henri Manguin, and Charles Camoin, which brought him to the movement of Fauvism. In 1907 Rouault commenced a series of paintings dedicated to courts, clowns, and prostitutes that were widely interpreted as moral and social criticism. He became attracted to Spiritualism and the dramatic existentialism of the philosopher Jacques Maritain, who remained a close friend for the rest of his life. His works from the beginning of World War I onward became more and more informed by Christian motifs and inspiration, and he devoted himself fully to painting once the war ended. In 1929 Rouault created the designs for Sergei Diaghilev’s ballet The Prodigal Son, which led to exhibitions in foreign countries, mainly in major cities like London, New York, and Chicago. World War II had a chilling effect on his work, life, and mental state, and he became withdrawn and disillusioned after witnessing the brutality of the Nazis and the devastation of his homeland. In the mid 1950s he was diagnosed with lung cancer and burnt roughly three hundred unfinished paintings, stating that he felt he would not live to finish them. He passed away in his home in Paris on February 13th, 1958, and it was nearly four decades before there was a resurgence in interest in his work when his daughter Genevieve published a comprehensive biography of his life, complete with reproduced illustrations from his early and later years that were thought to have been lost.