Marcel Gromaire

Born in 1892 in the North of France, Marcel Gromaire began his formation in Douai, an then moved to Paris, where he carried on with his law studies, and met several artists of Montparnasse.

Gromaire always said of himself that he was a self-taught man; nonetheless, the influence of artists like Matisse, Cézanne or Léger is visible in his work. From 1912 to 1916, he was recruited for war, and came back to Paris in 1919, where he worked as a film critic for the magazine "Le Crapouillot".

In 1920, Gromaire met the doctor Maurice Girardin , who would later on become his patron. In 1933, he knew a great success with the exhibition of the Kunsthalle Basel. He decorated the lodge of the Manufacture de Porcelaine de Sèvres during the Parisian International Exhibition of 1937. He played a most essential role in the recognition of the tradition of tapestry, especially during the years 1939-1944.

He was awarded with numerous prizes : Carnegie prize in 1952, Commander of Legion of Honour in 1954, Guggenheim National prize in 1956, and the Grand National Prize of Arts in 1958.

Submitted by Avant-Garde Gallery