Georges Rouault b.Paris 1871-1958
Born into a working class family, Georges Rouault was apprenticed to a Parisian stained glass maker at the age of fourteen. From 1885 he enrolled in evening classes at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs until in 1891 when he transferred himself to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts as a full-time student under the tutelage of the Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau. His early work was influenced both by his teacher and stained glass. After Moreau’s death he was appointed curator of the Musée Moreau, a post that could have been his for the rest of his life.
His vivid palette linked him to Fauvism, which is perhaps not surprising. Other members of that movement, Matisse and Marquet included, had been fellow students at the Ecole but his subject matter differed. It expressed sympathy for the humble, the lowly and the poor, even prostitutes, suggesting the strong moral concern of the devout Catholic that he was. He endeavoured to create a new kind of Christian art for a new century.
Up until this time his work had not been a commercial success. However, it sufficiently attracted the famous art dealer Ambroise Vollard who offered him a contract. In return for his entire output Rouault would be paid a salary. Although financially secure the artist was later to discover that there were certain drawbacks to this arrangement.
Vollard had a passion for fine illustrated books, and it was natural that he should encourage Rouault to turn in this direction. During the first decade of their association Rouault concentrated mainly on printmaking. He produced the plates for ‘Miserére’, which is generally considered his finest achievement in the graphic field. From a technical point of view it was highly innovative using every aspect of intaglio process. The imagery also expressed the artist’s feelings perfectly. Although the series was completed in 1927 it was not to be published until 1948.
In 1939 Vollard died in an automobile accident. The artist was thus released from his contract but the question was what would happen to the great mass of work that was now in the hands of Vollard’s heirs? Through the courts he succeeded in recovering this and a staggering eight hundred unfinished and unsigned paintings, which were in Vollard’s possession at the time of his death.
After the Second World War retrospective exhibitions were held at MoMa, New York in 1945 and the Tate Gallery in 1946. During the 1950s, this trickle became a flood. When Rouault died in February 1958 he was honoured with a state funeral.