Biography
Born in 1892 in Noyelles-sur-Sambre, in northern France, Marcel Gromaire grew up in an environment steeped in art and literature. Initially destined for a career in law, he chose painting instead and attended the free academies of Montparnasse, studying under Henri Le Fauconnier and Henri Matisse.
Mobilized in 1913, he lived through six years of war, which had a lasting impact on his work. In 1925, he painted his iconic work, La Guerre, a sober and powerful vision of the trenches, which was reproduced in school textbooks for many years.
Gromaire enjoyed success from the 1920s onwards: supported by the collector Maurice Girardin, he exhibited in Paris, New York, and Basel, where he was given his first retrospective in 1933. His unclassifiable style combines architectural density and colorful vibrations, giving his characters a monumental quality. Close to progressive circles without being militant, he painted workers, peasants, sensual female nudes, and monumental settings with equal intensity.
His work is distinguished by a quiet strength, inherited from his northern roots and his experience of war. A patient and independent painter, he did not belong to any school, but engaged in dialogue with Cubism, Expressionism, and the classical tradition.
He was awarded the Carnegie Prize (1952), the Guggenheim Prize (1956), and the National Arts Prize (1959), and was made a Commander of the Legion of Honor. His last major exhibition was held in Lille in 1966.
Marcel Gromaire died in Paris in 1971, leaving behind a body of work characterized by “elegant strength” that was at once social, sensual, and universal.
