mheu, Historical Museum of the Urban Environment

The artist

Marcel Gromaire was born in 1892 in Noyelles-sur-Sambre. He moved to Paris to study law but developed an interest in painting as a self-taught student. Influenced by Matisse, Cézanne and Fernand Léger, he embraced the full, powerful shapes of their work. After World War I, during which he was wounded, he continued painting, supported by his patron Doctor Girardin. His work was rewarded in 1933 by an exhibit at the Kunstmuseum Basel in Switzerland. Gromaire then participated alongside Lurçat in developing a new art of tapestry. Awarded a teaching position at the decorative arts school Ecole nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs, he won a number of prizes for his body of work and his career. He died in Paris in 1971.