Rouault, Georges

Born during the Paris Commune on May 27, 1871, Georges Rouault spent his childhood in the working-class neighborhoods of Belleville, where his father, a cabinetmaker at Pleyel, instilled in him a passion for fine materials. At the age of 14, he left his native neighborhood to apprentice with a glass painter. Under the early influence of his maternal grandfather Alexandre Champdavoine, who introduced him to Courbet, Manet, Forain and Daumier, Rouault developed a keen interest in painting, which he eventually decided to pursue after starting out at the Arts décoratifs followed by studies at the Beaux-Arts from 1890, thus abandoning the glassmaking trade.