Famous French Abstract Painters

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Francis Picabia

(French Avant-Garde Painter and Poet Who was One of the Early Major Figures of the 'Dada Movement')

Birthdate: January 22, 1879

Sun Sign: Aquarius

Birthplace: Paris, France

Died: November 30, 1953

Francis Picabia was a French avant-garde painter, typographist, and poet. He is best remembered for his highly abstract planar compositions, which are rich in contrasts. One of the most influential figures of the Dada movement, Francis Picabia helped popularize Dadaism in France and in the United States of America.

Jean Arp

(German-French-Sculptor Best Known for His Biomorphic Sculptures)

Birthdate: September 16, 1886

Sun Sign: Virgo

Birthplace: Strasbourg, France

Died: June 7, 1966

Jean Arp was born in Strasbourg, to a German father and a French mother. After studying art in Paris and Switzerland, he co-created The Modern Alliance and participated in the Dada and Abstraction-Création movements. An avant-garde painter and sculptor, he also experimented with media such as embroidery.

Pierre Soulages

(French Abstract Painter Renowned as the 'World's Greatest Living Artist')

Birthdate: December 24, 1919

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Birthplace: Rodez, France

Pierre Soulages is a French painter, sculptor, and engraver. His works have influenced several prominent personalities like François Hollande, who called him the greatest living artist in the world, in 2014. Over the course of his illustrious career, Pierre Soulages has won several prestigious awards like Carnegie Prize, Rembrandt Award, and the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art.

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Nicolas de Stael

(Painter)

Birthdate: January 5, 1914

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Birthplace: Saint Petersburg, Russia

Died: March 16, 1955

Nicolas de Stael was a Russian-born French painter best remembered for his highly abstract landscape painting. He traveled throughout Europe, living and working in places like Paris. Nicolas de Stael suffered from depression, insomnia, and exhaustion throughout his career. He committed suicide by jumping off from his studio terrace at the age of 41.

Simon Hantaï

(Hungarian-Born French Artist Who Invented the Pliage Technique of Folded Canvas Art)

Birthdate: December 7, 1922

Sun Sign: Sagittarius

Birthplace: Biatorbágy, Hungary

Died: September 12, 2008

Hungarian-born French artist Simon Hantaï is remembered for his kaleidoscopic abstract paintings and pioneered the pliage technique of creating art with folded canvases. He studied art in Budapest and then moved to France. His best-known works include the Meuns series, Tabulas, and Laissées. He became mostly a recluse after the 1982 Venice Biennale.

Hans Hartung

(German-French Painter Best Known For His Gestural Abstract Style)

Birthdate: September 21, 1904

Sun Sign: Virgo

Birthplace: Leipzig, Germany

Died: December 7, 1989

Hans Hartung was a German-French painter best remembered for his gestural abstract style. He achieved popularity in the late 1950s and received the International Grand Prix for painting in 1960 at the Venice Biennale. Hans Hartung's abstract paintings influenced and inspired many younger American painters, making him a prominent predecessor of American Lyrical Abstraction of the '60s and '70s.

Jacques Villon

(French Painter Who Is Remembered for His Cubist and Abstract Paintings)

Birthdate: July 31, 1875

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: Damville, Mesnils-sur-Iton, France

Died: June 9, 1963

French painter Gaston Duchamp, known by his pseudonym, Jacques Villon, is remembered for his Cubist and abstract paintings. Initially a law student, he quit law and switched to art soon. He worked making prints and posters for a decade. He later created masterpieces displaying his sense of colors and geometry.

Jean Hélion

(French Painter Who Began His Career with Abstract Painting Before Switching to Figurative Art)

Birthdate: April 21, 1904

Sun Sign: Taurus

Birthplace: Couterne, Rives-d'Andaine, France

Died: October 27, 1987

French painter Jean Hélion began his artistic career as an abstract painter but later switched to figurative painting. An architect, he began painting in his spare time and soon co-founded an association of abstract painters, Abstraction-Création. He fought for the French army in World War II and also penned a memoir in captivity.

Olivier Debré

(Abstract Painter Who Emerged as Leading Painter of Colour Fields of the Post-War Era)

Birthdate: April 15, 1920

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: Paris, France

Died: June 1, 1999

French abstract painter Olivier Debré was one of the leading painters of colour field style of abstract painting of the Post-War Era. A member of French Academy, Debré shifted from figurative painting to abstraction after visiting studio of Pablo Picasso. Debré is noted for working in large-scale stage-sets including for Comédie Française, new Shanghai Opera House and Hong Kong Opera.