Artist: Manssieux, Lucien

Lucien Mainssieux (1885–1958) was a French modern painter, engraver and writer who moved with ease in the Parisian avant-garde while remaining stylistically independent. Born in Voiron, he trained first in Grenoble and from 1905 in Paris at the Académie Julian under Jean-Paul Laurens. In Paris he entered the circles of Matisse, Picasso, Marquet and Dunoyer de Segonzac and developed a lasting friendship with Henri Matisse. Deeply influenced by Cézanne, Mainssieux combined academic rigor with modern freedom of color and form. His oeuvre includes landscapes, figures and a refined body of still lifes in which structure, harmony and quiet balance dominate. He exhibited at major salons and travelled widely in Europe and North Africa.