Henri Laurens

Paris, 1885 – Paris, 1954

Henri Laurens was a French sculptor, born in Paris of a working-class family. He received his early training with a decorator from 1899 and in 1902 moved to Montmartre and practised sculpture. In 1911 he met Braque and through him became a convert to the Cubist movement until the 1920s when he reintroduced curvilinear shapes into his work.

Laurens was considered by the French avantgarde to be the greatest French sculptor of his age. His work also includes a large number of engravings, etchings and illustrations for literary works, including Homer’s The Odyssey. He died in Paris on May 5, 1954.