George Rouault Biography
Georges Rouault was born in Paris in 1871.
Raised in the working-class neighborhood of Belleville, he began working as an apprentice glassmaker.
After taking evening courses at the School of Decorative Arts in 1885, Rouault studied at the School of Fine Arts between 1890 and 1895. Here he joined Gustave Moreau's atelier.
In 1903, Rouault became the curator of the atelier-museum that Moreau left to the state and founded, in the same year, the Autumn Salon with other artists, where he exhibited regularly. In 1905, Rouault joined the famous "Cage Aux Fauves" group at the Grand Palais together with other artists such as Matisse, Derain, Vlaminck, Marquet, Van Dongen, Camoin and Manguin.
Rouault's first personal exhibition was organized in 1910. He loved to depict the people of the working-class neighborhoods of Paris and the suburbs using gouache and watercolours. His colors are intense, with a blue cast, and his works reveal a tragic vision of reality.
In 1912, Rouault began drawing in ink to create the engraving of the "Miserere", which he would continually modify for over ten years. After the First World War, Rouault devoted himself to oil painting, always remaining faithful to his favorite subjects which he painted with dark colors and thick black outlines. His Christian faith shines through in his works, with Catholic iconography constantly revisited. He created stained glass windows for the Notre-Dame du Plateau d'Assy church in 1945 and enamels for the Ligugé abbey in 1949.
Georges Rouault also worked as a set designer for Diaghilev's Russian Ballets in 1929 and practiced the art of ceramics, engraving and the book. Engraving was an essential element of his work, as well as of his pictorial development.
Georges Rouault died in Paris in 1958.
