Georges Rouault
Georges Rouault was born in 1871 in a working-class district of Paris. His father was a cabinetmaker, and in his youth, Rouault worked for a stained-glass craftsman while studying at the School of Decorative Arts. This experience greatly influenced the thick black outlines and luminous colors seen in his later works.
In 1890, he enrolled in the École des Beaux-Arts, where he studied under the Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau. Henri Matisse was also a fellow student. After Moreau's death, Rouault served as the first curator of the Musée Gustave Moreau.
Rouault often depicted religious and spiritual themes, including the poor, clowns, prostitutes, judges, and Christ. He established a unique painting style characterized by strong, thick black outlines, a dark palette based on black and brown, and a jewel-like brilliance and luminosity in colors such as blue, green, and orange. His works were often repainted numerous times until he was satisfied, resulting in very thickly painted oil works with a profound, multi-layered accumulation of colors.
From 1903, he participated in the Salon d'Automne and was sometimes referred to as a Fauvist painter alongside Henri Matisse and others, but his works possessed a unique expression with a stronger spiritual essence.
His encounter with the art dealer Ambroise Vollard in 1907 marked a significant turning point in Rouault's artistic career. In 1913, Vollard purchased many of the works in his studio, and from 1917 onward, Rouault devoted himself to printmaking.
He gained high acclaim particularly for his aquatint etchings, creating important print series such as "Les Fleurs du Mal" (The Flowers of Evil), based on Baudelaire's collection of poems, and "Miserere," a print series on the theme of Christ's Passion. He also released other print series like "Circus of the Shooting Star" and "Passion."
He garnered international recognition, with a print exhibition held at the Museum of Modern Art in 1938, followed by a retrospective at the same museum in 1945. In 1946, a joint exhibition with Georges Braque was held at the Tate Gallery in London.
Georges Rouault passed away in Paris in 1958. His funeral was held as a state funeral at the Église Saint-Germain-des-Prés. His works, which express profound religious spirit and love for humanity, are still highly regarded today as important examples of 20th-century French art.