Georges Rouault

Georges Rouault was born in Paris in 1871. A solitary man, he rarely left the city, keeping company with his wife Marthe, their four children and a few close friends, notably Gustave Moreau, Léon Bloy, André Suarès and Jacques and Raïssa Maritain. Early in life Rouault was apprenticed at a stained-glass workshop for five years after which he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts as Gustave Moreau’s star pupil. Rouault’s spiritual awakening can be attributed to meeting Catholic writer Léon Bloy, author of La Femme Pauvre, around 1904, and his interest in social issues began at this time. His art also underwent dramatic changes. Rouault himself experienced poverty until he was contracted to his patron and art dealer Ambroise Vollard who opened to the artist the second floor of his house for use as a studio. It was there that Rouault worked on The Old King and the Miserere. Rouault died in 1958.