Henri LAURENS

(1885 – 1954)

French sculptor and draughtsman of cubism | 1885 born in Paris | 1899-1905 completes a stonemasonry apprenticeship; in his spare time he makes sculptures in the style of Auguste RODIN | 1911 joins the group of “Artists of Montparnasse” | 1912 he is introduced to synthetic cubism by Georges BRAQUE, with whom he was a lifelong friend | 1915 begins to sculpt in the cubist style after meeting Pablo PICASSO and Fernand LÉGER | 1920-30 following PICASSO’s cubist paintings he creates post-cubist works that were no longer constructed but modelled | 1930~ his figures loose their cubist structure and, under the influence of surrealism, gain a rounded, voluminous physicality.