Henri Focillon (7 September 1881 – 3 March 1943) was a French art historian. He was the son of the printmaker Victor-Louis Focillon. He was Director of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon. Professor of

Art History Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

at the University of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

, at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

, at the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...

and then in the United States, where he went into exile and taught at Yale University. A

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

, printmaker, and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

, Henri Focillon formed generations of art historians including

George Kubler George Alexander Kubler (26 July 1912 - 3 October 1996) was an American art historian and among the foremost scholars on the art of Pre-Columbian America and Ibero-American Art. Biography Kubler was born in Hollywood, California, but most of h ...

. He remains best known for his works on medieval art, most of which were translated into English.

Partial bibliography

:* ''Vie des formes'' (1934, "The Life of Forms") :* ''Éloge de la main'' :* ''Benvenuto Cellini'' Medieval Art :* ''Art des sculpteurs romans'' (1932) :* ''Art d'occident 1 : Moyen Âge roman et gothique'' :* ''Art d'occident 2 : Moyen Âge gothique'' (1938) :* ''Moyen Age. Survivances et réveils'' (1943) :* ''Piero della Francesca'' (1951) :* ''L'An mil'' (1952) Painting :* ''La peinture au XIXe et XXe siècles'' (1927-1928, "Painting in the 19th and 20th Centuries") :* ''De Callot à Lautrec: Perspectives de l’art français'' ("From Callot to Lautrec: Perspectives on French Art") Prints :* ''Giovanni-Battista Piranesi'' (1918) East Asia :* ''L'art bouddhique'' (1921, "Buddhist Art") :* ''Hokusai'' (1914)

External links

* Annamaria Ducci, ''Henri Focillon en son temps. La liberté des formes'', traduction de Sara Longo, révisée par Elise Koering, Strasbourg, Presses universitaires de Strasbourg, 2021, ('Historiographie de l'art', 2). *
Henri Focillon, 1881-1943
at classiques.uqac.ca * {{DEFAULTSORT:Focillon, Henri French art historians University of Lyon faculty University of Paris faculty 1881 births 1943 deaths École Normale Supérieure alumni French male non-fiction writers 20th-century French male writers