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The School of Paris (, ) refers to the French and
émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Hugueno ...
artists who worked in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in the first half of the 20th century. The School of Paris was not a single
art movement An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific art philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defined ...
or institution, but refers to the importance of Paris as a centre of Western art in the early decades of the 20th century. Between 1900 and 1940 the city drew artists from all over the world and became a centre for artistic activity. The term ''School of Paris'', coined by
André Warnod André Warnod (1885–1960) was a French writer, goguettier, art critic, and illustrator, who witnessed the artistic scenes of Montmartre and Montparnasse during the 1910s-1930s. Biography André Warnod was born in Giromagny on April 24, 1 ...
, was used to describe this loose community, particularly of non-French artists, centered in the cafes, salons and shared workspaces and galleries of
Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. It is split betwee ...
. Many artists of Jewish origin formed a prominent part of the School of Paris and later heavily influenced art in Israel. Before
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
the name was also applied to artists involved in the many collaborations and overlapping new art movements, between
Post-Impressionist Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction a ...
s and
Pointillism Pointillism (, ) is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term "Pointillism ...
and
Orphism Orphism is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices originating in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic world, associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheus, who descended into the Greek underworld and returned ...
,
Fauvism Fauvism ( ) is a style of painting and an art movement that emerged in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the style of (, ''the wild beasts''), a group of modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong col ...
and
Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...
. In that period the artistic ferment took place in
Montmartre Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...
and the well-established art scene there. But
Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
moved away, the war scattered almost everyone, by the 1920s
Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. It is split betwee ...
had become a centre of the
avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...
. After World War II the name was applied to another different group of
abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...
ists.


Early artists

Before
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, a group of
expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...
s in Paris created art in the styles of
Post-Impressionism Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction a ...
,
Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...
and
Fauvism Fauvism ( ) is a style of painting and an art movement that emerged in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the style of (, ''the wild beasts''), a group of modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong col ...
. The group in its broader sense included artists like
Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
,
Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...
,
Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (; ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern art, modern style characterized by a surre ...
and
Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), known after 1911 as Piet Mondrian (, , ), was a Dutch Painting, painter and Theory of art, art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He w ...
. Associated French artists included
Pierre Bonnard Pierre Bonnard (; 3 October 186723 January 1947) was a French painter, illustrator and printmaker, known especially for the stylized decorative qualities of his paintings and his bold use of color. A founding member of the Post-Impressionist gr ...
,
Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...
,
Jean Metzinger Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...
and
Albert Gleizes Albert Gleizes (; 8 December 1881 – 23 June 1953) was a French artist, theoretician, philosopher, a self-proclaimed founder of Cubism and an influence on the School of Paris. Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger wrote the first major treatise on ...
. Whilst in its more narrow description described Chagall and Modigliani. Picasso and Matisse have been described as twin leaders (''chefs d'école'') of the school before the war.


La Ruche

Many École de Paris artists lived in the iconic La Ruche, a complex of studio apartments and other facilities in
Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. It is split betwee ...
on the Left Bank, at 2 Passage Dantzig, built by a successful sculptor, Alfred Boucher, who wanted to develop a creative hub where struggling artists could live, work and interact. Built from materials dismantled from the Medoc Wine Pavilion from the 1900 Paris World's Fair, it comprised 50 modest studios with large windows that let in a lot of light, with nearby buildings providing 50 more studios for the overflow of artists. Boucher called the complex La Ruche – French for "beehive" – because he wanted the artists to work like bees in a beehive; he dedicated a large room in the complex where the poorer artists could draw a model that he paid for, and included a small theater space for plays and concerts.Muratova, X. (1979). Paris. The Burlington Magazine, 121(912), 198-198. Retrieved May 4, 2021. La Ruche opened in 1902, with the blessing of the French government. It was often the first destination of émigré artists who arrived in Paris eager to join the art scene and find affordable housing. Living and working in close quarters, many artists forged lasting friendships, e.g.,
Chaïm Soutine Chaïm Soutine (; ; ; 13 January 1893 – 9 August 1943) was a French painter of Belarusian-Jewish origin of the School of Paris, who made a major contribution to the Expressionist movement while living and working in Paris. Inspired by clas ...
with Modigliani, Chagall and poet
Blaise Cendrars Frédéric-Louis Sauser (1 September 1887 – 21 January 1961), better known as Blaise Cendrars (), was a Swiss-born novelist and poet who became a naturalized French citizen in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the European ...
, and influenced each other's works. Artists who lived and worked in La Ruche include
Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (; ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern art, modern style characterized by a surre ...
,
Yitzhak Frenkel Yitzhak Frenkel (; 1899–1981), also known as Isaac Frenkel or Alexandre Frenel, was an Israeli painter, sculptor and teacher. He was one of the leading Jewish artists of the School of Paris, l’École de Paris and its chief practitioner in Is ...
,
Diego Rivera Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the Mexican muralism, mural movement in Mexican art, Mexican and international art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted mural ...
,
Tsuguharu Foujita was a Japanese–French painter. After having studied Western-style painting in Japan, Foujita traveled to Paris, where he encountered the international modern art scene of the Montparnasse neighborhood and developed an eclectic style that borrow ...
, Jacob, Soutine,
Michel Kikoine Michel Kikoïne (; , ''Michail Kikóin''; 31 May 1892 – 4 November 1968) was a Lithuanian Jewish-French painter who belonged to the Ecole de Paris art movement. Life Kikoine was born in Rechytsa, present-day Belarus. The son of a Jewish b ...
,
Moïse Kisling Moïse Kisling (born Mojżesz Kisling; 22 January 1891 – 29 April 1953) was a Polish-born French painter. Born in Kraków, then part of Austria-Hungary, to Jews, Jewish parents, Kisling studied at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, Academy ...
,
Pinchus Krémègne Pinchus Krémègne, aka Pinchus Kremegne (; ; 28 July 1890 – 5 April 1981), was a Lithuanian Jews, Lithuanian Belarusian Jewish-French artist, primarily known as a sculptor, painter and lithography, lithographer. Biography and Art He was a ...
,
Ossip Zadkine Ossip Alexeevich Zadkine (; 28 January 1888 – 25 November 1967) was a Russian and French artist of the School of Paris. He is best known as a sculptor, but also produced paintings and lithographs. Early years and education Zadkine was born o ...
,
Jules Pascin Julius Mordecai Pincas (March 31, 1885 – June 2, 1930), known as Pascin (, erroneously or ), Jules Pascin, also known as the "Prince of Montparnasse", was a Bulgarian artist of the School of Paris, known for his paintings and drawings. He ...
,
Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...
, Amshey Nurenberg,
Jacques Lipchitz Jacques Lipchitz (26 May 1973) was a Lithuanian-born French-American Cubist sculptor. Lipchitz retained highly figurative and legible components in his work leading up to 1915–16, after which naturalist and descriptive elements were muted, domi ...
, and more.


After World War I

The term "School of Paris" was used in 1925 by
André Warnod André Warnod (1885–1960) was a French writer, goguettier, art critic, and illustrator, who witnessed the artistic scenes of Montmartre and Montparnasse during the 1910s-1930s. Biography André Warnod was born in Giromagny on April 24, 1 ...
to refer to the many foreign-born artists who had migrated to Paris. The term soon gained currency, often as a derogatory label by critics who saw the foreign artists—many of whom were Jewish—as a threat to the purity of French art.Alley, Ronald. "Ecole de Paris." ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University Press. Web. Art critic
Louis Vauxcelles Louis Vauxcelles (; born Louis Meyer; 1 January 187021 July 1943) was a French art critic. He is credited with coining the terms ''Fauvism'' (1905) and ''Cubism'' (1908). He used several pseudonyms in various publications: Pinturrichio, Vasari, ...
, noted for coining the terms "
Fauvism Fauvism ( ) is a style of painting and an art movement that emerged in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the style of (, ''the wild beasts''), a group of modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong col ...
" and "
Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...
" (also meant disparagingly), called immigrant artists unwashed "
Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...
disguised as representatives of French art". Waldemar George, himself a French Jew, in 1931 lamented that the School of Paris name "allows any artist to pretend he is French...it refers to French tradition but instead annihilates it." School of Paris artists were progressively marginalised. Beginning in 1935, articles about Chagall no longer appeared in art publications (other than those published for Jewish audiences), and by June 1940 when the Vichy government took power, School of Paris artists could no longer exhibit in Paris at all. The artists working in Paris between World War I and World War II experimented with various styles including
Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...
,
Orphism Orphism is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices originating in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic world, associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheus, who descended into the Greek underworld and returned ...
,
Surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...
and
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...
. Foreign and French artists working in Paris included
Jean Arp Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (; ; 16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as Jean Arp in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter and poet. He was known as a Dadaist and an abstract artist. Early life Arp was born Hans Peter Wilhelm Ar ...
,
Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , ; ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and Ceramic art, ceramist. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...
,
Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century and a pioneer of modernism ...
,
Raoul Dufy Raoul Dufy (; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French painter associated with the Fauvist movement. He gained recognition for his vibrant and decorative style, which became popular in various forms, such as textile designs, and public build ...
,
Tsuguharu Foujita was a Japanese–French painter. After having studied Western-style painting in Japan, Foujita traveled to Paris, where he encountered the international modern art scene of the Montparnasse neighborhood and developed an eclectic style that borrow ...
, artists from Belarus like
Michel Kikoine Michel Kikoïne (; , ''Michail Kikóin''; 31 May 1892 – 4 November 1968) was a Lithuanian Jewish-French painter who belonged to the Ecole de Paris art movement. Life Kikoine was born in Rechytsa, present-day Belarus. The son of a Jewish b ...
,
Pinchus Kremegne Pinchus Krémègne, aka Pinchus Kremegne (; ; 28 July 1890 – 5 April 1981), was a Lithuanian Belarusian Jewish-French artist, primarily known as a sculptor, painter and lithographer. Biography and Art He was a native of Zhaludak near Li ...
, the Lithuanian
Jacques Lipchitz Jacques Lipchitz (26 May 1973) was a Lithuanian-born French-American Cubist sculptor. Lipchitz retained highly figurative and legible components in his work leading up to 1915–16, after which naturalist and descriptive elements were muted, domi ...
and Arbit Blatas, who documented some of the greatest representatives of the School of Paris in his oeuvre, the Polish artists
Marek Szwarc Marek Szwarc (9 May 1892 – 28 December 1958) was a painter and sculptor associated with the School of Paris (École de Paris), as well as with the Yiddish cultural avant-garde movement in Poland '' Yung-yidish''. Early years Marek Szwarc was b ...
and Morice Lipsi and others such as Russian-born prince Alexis Arapoff. A significant subset, the Jewish artists, came to be known as the Jewish School of Paris or the School of Montparnasse.Roditi, Eduard (1968). "The School of Paris". ''European Judaism: A Journal for the New Europe'', 3(2), 13–20. The "core members were almost all Jews, and the resentment expressed toward them by French critics in the 1930s was unquestionably fueled by
anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
." One account points to the 1924
Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name i ...
, which decided to separate the works of French-born artists from those by immigrants; in response critic referred to them as the School of Paris.Stanley Meisner, ''Albert Barnes and his pursuit of non-French art in Paris''
, Los Angeles Times, May 1, 2015
Jewish members of the group included Emmanuel Mané-Katz,
Abraham Mintchine Abraham Mintchine (4 April 1898 – 25 April 1931) was one of the major painters associated with the artists' environment known as School of Paris. A Jewish painter, born in Kyiv, he immigrated to Paris in 1925. His known artwork was produced ...
,
Chaïm Soutine Chaïm Soutine (; ; ; 13 January 1893 – 9 August 1943) was a French painter of Belarusian-Jewish origin of the School of Paris, who made a major contribution to the Expressionist movement while living and working in Paris. Inspired by clas ...
, Adolphe Féder,
Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...
, Yitzhak Frenkel Frenel,
Moïse Kisling Moïse Kisling (born Mojżesz Kisling; 22 January 1891 – 29 April 1953) was a Polish-born French painter. Born in Kraków, then part of Austria-Hungary, to Jews, Jewish parents, Kisling studied at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, Academy ...
, Maxa Nordau and
Shimshon Holzman Shimshon Holzman (variant name: Shimson Holzman; ; 1907–1986) was an Israeli landscape and figurative painter. He is known worldwide for his water color paintings. Background Holzman was born in 1907, in Sambir, Galicia (Central Europe), Galic ...
. The artists of the Jewish School of Paris were stylistically diverse. Some, like Louis Marcoussis, worked in a
Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...
style, but most tended toward expression of mood rather than an emphasis on formal structure. Their paintings often feature thickly brushed or troweled
impasto Impasto is a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area of the surface thickly, usually thick enough that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas. When dry, impasto provides tex ...
. The Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme has works from School of Paris artists including Pascin, Kikoine, Soutine, Mintchine, Orloff and Lipschitz.


Jewish School of Paris


France

Artists of Jewish origin had a marked influence in the École de Paris.
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
the capital of the art world attracted Jewish artists from
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
, several of them fleeing persecution, discrimination and pogroms. Many of these artists settled in
Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. It is split betwee ...
. Several Jewish painters were notable in the movement; these include
Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...
and
Jules Pascin Julius Mordecai Pincas (March 31, 1885 – June 2, 1930), known as Pascin (, erroneously or ), Jules Pascin, also known as the "Prince of Montparnasse", was a Bulgarian artist of the School of Paris, known for his paintings and drawings. He ...
, the Expressionism, expressionists
Chaïm Soutine Chaïm Soutine (; ; ; 13 January 1893 – 9 August 1943) was a French painter of Belarusian-Jewish origin of the School of Paris, who made a major contribution to the Expressionist movement while living and working in Paris. Inspired by clas ...
and Yitzhak Frenkel, Isaac Frenkel Frenel as well as
Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (; ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern art, modern style characterized by a surre ...
and
Abraham Mintchine Abraham Mintchine (4 April 1898 – 25 April 1931) was one of the major painters associated with the artists' environment known as School of Paris. A Jewish painter, born in Kyiv, he immigrated to Paris in 1925. His known artwork was produced ...
. Many Jewish artists were known for depicting Jewish themes in their work, and some artists' paintings were imbued with heavy emotional tones. Yitzhak Frenkel, Frenkel described the artists as "members of the minority characterized by restlessness whose expressionism is therefore extreme in its emotionalism". The term coined by the art critic
André Warnod André Warnod (1885–1960) was a French writer, goguettier, art critic, and illustrator, who witnessed the artistic scenes of Montmartre and Montparnasse during the 1910s-1930s. Biography André Warnod was born in Giromagny on April 24, 1 ...
in 1925 in the magazine Comœdia, was intended by Warnod to negate xenophobic attitudes towards the foreign artists, many of whom were Jewish Eastern European. Louis Vauxcelles wrote several monographs for the publisher Le Triangle, a prolific critic of Jewish painters. In a 1931 monograph, he wrote: "like a swarm of locusts, an invasion of Jewish colorists fell on Paris – on the Paris of Montparnasse. The causes of this exodus: the Russian revolution, and all that it brought with it of misery, pogroms, exactions, persecutions; the unfortunate young artists take refuge here, attracted by the influence of contemporary French art.... They will constitute [an element of] what the young critic will call the School of Paris. Many talents are to be considered in this crowd of metèques." Following the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France; several prominent Jewish artists died during The Holocaust, the holocaust, leading to the dwindling of the Jewish School Of Paris. Others managed to left or fled Europe, mostly to Israel or the United States, US.


Israel

Visual arts in Israel, Israeli art was dominated by the École de Paris inspired art between the 1920s and 1940s, with French art continuing to strongly influence Israeli art for the following decades. This phenomenon began with the return of École de Paris Yitzhak Frenkel, Isaac Frenkel Frenel to Mandatory Palestine in 1925 and his opening of the Histadrut Art Studio. His students were encouraged to continue their studies in Paris, and upon their return to Pre-Independence Israel amplified the influence of the Jewish artists of the School of Paris they encountered. These artists, centered in
Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. It is split betwee ...
in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and in Tel Aviv and Safed in Israel, tended to portray humanity and the emotion evoked through human facial expression. Furthermore, characteristically of Jewish Parisian Expressionism, the art was dramatic and even tragic, perhaps in connection to the suffering of the Jewish soul. During the 1930s several such painters would paint scenes in Israel in an Impressionism, Impressionist style and a Parisian light, greyer dimmer compared to the powerful Mediterranean sun.


Artists Quarter of Safed

Safed, a city in the mountains of the Galilee and one of the four holy cities of Judaism, was a Centre of École de Paris artists during the mid and late 20th century. Artists were attracted there by the romantic and mystical qualities of the Kabbalah, Kabbalistic mountain city. The artists' quarter founded in 1949 was formed at first by Moshe Castel,
Shimshon Holzman Shimshon Holzman (variant name: Shimson Holzman; ; 1907–1986) was an Israeli landscape and figurative painter. He is known worldwide for his water color paintings. Background Holzman was born in 1907, in Sambir, Galicia (Central Europe), Galic ...
,
Yitzhak Frenkel Yitzhak Frenkel (; 1899–1981), also known as Isaac Frenkel or Alexandre Frenel, was an Israeli painter, sculptor and teacher. He was one of the leading Jewish artists of the School of Paris, l’École de Paris and its chief practitioner in Is ...
and other artists, many of them influenced by or part of the School of Paris. Though not united by a common artistic trope, it was a clear bastion of École de Paris in the country. The painters of the community who were influenced by the Ecole de Paris attempted to express or reflect the mystics of Safed, Tzfat. Painting with colors that reflect the dynamism and spirituality of the ancient city, painting the fiery or serene sunsets over Mount Meron, Mt Meron.
Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...
would walk the streets and paint portraits of religious children. Several of these artists would commute between Safed and
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
.


Musicians

In the same period, the School of Paris name was also extended to an informal association of classical composers,
émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Hugueno ...
s from Central and Eastern Europe to who met at the Café Du Dôme in Montparnasse. They included Alexandre Tansman, Alexander Tcherepnin, Bohuslav Martinů and Tibor Harsányi. Unlike Les Six, another group of Montparnasse musicians at this time, the musical school of Paris was a loosely-knit group that did not adhere to any particular stylistic orientation.


After World War II

In the aftermath of the war, "nationalistic and anti-Semitic attitudes were discredited, and the term took on a more general use denoting both foreign and French artists in Paris". But although the "Jewish problem" fantasy trope, trope continued to surface in public discourse, art critics ceased making ethnic distinctions in using the term. While in the early 20th century French art critics contrasted The School of Paris and the École de France, after World War II the question was School of Paris vs School of New York.Malcolm Gee, ''Between Paris and New York: Critical constructions of 'Englishness', c. 1945 - 1960''
Art Criticism Since 1900, Manchester University Press, 1993, p. 180.


New School of Paris

Post-war, Post-World War II (''Après-guerre''), the term "New School of Paris" or École de Paris III often referred to tachisme, and lyrical abstraction, a European parallel to American Abstract Expressionism. These artists include again foreign ones and are also related to COBRA (avant-garde movement), CoBrA.Auber, Nathalie, 'Cobra after Cobra' and the Alba Congress: From Revolutionary Avant-Garde To Situationist Experiment, Third Text 20.2 (2006), Art Source. Web. 14 Sept. 2015. Important proponents were Jean Dubuffet, Jean Fautrier, Pierre Soulages, Nicolas de Staël, Hans Hartung, Wols, Serge Poliakoff, Bram van Velde, Simon Hantaï, Gérard Ernest Schneider, Gérard Schneider, Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, Zao Wou-Ki, Chu Teh-Chun, Georges Mathieu, André Masson, Jean Degottex, Pierre Tal-Coat, Jean Messagier, Alfred Manessier, Jean Le Moal, Olivier Debré, Zoran Mušič, Jean-Michel Coulon and Fahrelnissa Zeid, among others. Many of their exhibitions took place at the Galerie de France in Paris, and then at the Salon de Mai where a group of them exhibited until the 1970s. In 1996, UNESCO organized the 50th anniversary of the School of Paris (1954-1975), bringing together "100 painters of the New School of Paris." Notable artists included Arthur Aesbacher, Arthur Aeschbacher, Jean René Bazaine, Jean Bazaine, Leonardo Cremonini, Olivier Debré, Chu Teh-Chun, Jean Piaubert, Jean Cortot, Zao Wou-Ki, Zao Wou-ki, François Baron-Renouard, among others. This grand exhibition featured a hundred painters from 28 different countries at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The exhibition's curators were the art critics Henry Galy-Carles and Lydia Harambourg.


Art critics

Art critics and renowned writers have written prefaces, books, and articles regarding the painters of the School of Paris, notably in periodicals such as Libération, Le Figaro, Le Peintre, Combat, Les Lettres Françaises, Les Lettres françaises, Les Nouvelles littéraires. Among these writers and critiques were Waldemar George, Waldermar George, Georges-Emmanuel Clancier, Jean-Paul Crespelle, Arthur Conte, Robert Beauvais, Jean Lescure, Jean Cassou, Bernard Dorival,
André Warnod André Warnod (1885–1960) was a French writer, goguettier, art critic, and illustrator, who witnessed the artistic scenes of Montmartre and Montparnasse during the 1910s-1930s. Biography André Warnod was born in Giromagny on April 24, 1 ...
, Jean-Pierre Pietri, George Besson, Georges Boudaille, Jean-Albert Cartier, Jean Chabanon, Raymond Cogniat, Guy Dornand, Jean Bouret, Raymond Charmet, Florent Fels, Georges Charensol, Frank Elgar, Roger Van Gindertael, Georges Limbour, Marcel Zahar.


Selected artists

*
Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century and a pioneer of modernism ...
, Romanian-born sculptor, considered a pioneer of modernism, arrived in Paris in 1904 *Bernard Cathelin * (1920-2005), French painter, recognized as part of the New School of Paris *
Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...
lived in Paris from 1910 to 1914 then again after his exile from the Soviet Union in 1923; Jewish; was arrested in Marseilles by the Vichy France, Vichy government but escaped to the US with help from Alfred H. Barr Jr., director of the Museum of Modern Art, and collectors Louise and Walter Conrad Arensberg, Walter Arensberg, among others *Émilie Charmy, French painter, who was exhibited by the Parisian dealer and collector Berthe Weill *Giorgio de Chirico, an Italian who showed the first signs of magical realism later highlighted in Surrealist works, lived in Paris 1911–1915 and again in the 1920s *Jean-Michel Coulon, French painter, had the particularity of having kept his work almost secret over his lifetime *Robert Delaunay, French painter, co-founder of Orphism with his wife Sonia *Sonia Delaunay, wife of Robert, born Sarah Stern in Ukraine *Isaac Dobrinsky *Jean Dubuffet *François Zdenek Eberl, a naturalised French painter, a Catholic born in Prague *
Tsuguharu Foujita was a Japanese–French painter. After having studied Western-style painting in Japan, Foujita traveled to Paris, where he encountered the international modern art scene of the Montparnasse neighborhood and developed an eclectic style that borrow ...
, Japanese-French painter *Boris Borvine Frenkel a Jewish painter from Poland * Yitzhak Frenkel Frenel, father of Visual arts in Israel, modern Israeli art, Jewish, Israeli French artist. Sent his students to learn in Paris. Carried the influence of the School Of Paris to pre-independence Israel which up to that point was dominated by Orientalism. *Leopold Gottlieb, Polish paintier *, a Ukrainian-born painter associated with the Ballets Russes *Max Jacob *Wassily Kandinsky, Russian abstract artist, arrived in 1933 *Georges Kars, Czech painter *
Moïse Kisling Moïse Kisling (born Mojżesz Kisling; 22 January 1891 – 29 April 1953) was a Polish-born French painter. Born in Kraków, then part of Austria-Hungary, to Jews, Jewish parents, Kisling studied at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, Academy ...
, lived at La Ruche *Jesekiel David Kirszenbaum, Polish Jewish artist *
Pinchus Krémègne Pinchus Krémègne, aka Pinchus Kremegne (; ; 28 July 1890 – 5 April 1981), was a Lithuanian Jews, Lithuanian Belarusian Jewish-French artist, primarily known as a sculptor, painter and lithography, lithographer. Biography and Art He was a ...
Jewish artist *
Michel Kikoine Michel Kikoïne (; , ''Michail Kikóin''; 31 May 1892 – 4 November 1968) was a Lithuanian Jewish-French painter who belonged to the Ecole de Paris art movement. Life Kikoine was born in Rechytsa, present-day Belarus. The son of a Jewish b ...
, Jewish artist, born in Belarus *
Jacques Lipchitz Jacques Lipchitz (26 May 1973) was a Lithuanian-born French-American Cubist sculptor. Lipchitz retained highly figurative and legible components in his work leading up to 1915–16, after which naturalist and descriptive elements were muted, domi ...
, lived at La Ruche; Jewish cubist sculptor; took refuge from the Germans in the US * Morice Lipsi, Jewish sculptor of Polish origin *Jacob Macznik (1905–1945), born in Poland, arrived in Paris in 1928, died at the hands of the Nazis 1945. A young and highly regarded member of the École de Paris in the 1930s, prior to its decimation by the Reich. * Louis Marcoussis, had a studio in
Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. It is split betwee ...
*Zygmunt Menkes, a Polish-Jewish painter who later moved to the U.S. *Adolphe Milich, Adolphe MIlich, born and trained in Poland and Germany, arrived in Paris 1920, had a studio in Montparnasse *
Abraham Mintchine Abraham Mintchine (4 April 1898 – 25 April 1931) was one of the major painters associated with the artists' environment known as School of Paris. A Jewish painter, born in Kyiv, he immigrated to Paris in 1925. His known artwork was produced ...
lived in Paris from 1926, then intermittently from 1930 after René Gimpel encouraged him to discover the south of France. Died in 1931 *Yervand Kochar *
Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (; ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern art, modern style characterized by a surre ...
, Jewish Italian artist, arrived in Paris in 1906, lived at La Ruche *
Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), known after 1911 as Piet Mondrian (, , ), was a Dutch Painting, painter and Theory of art, art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He w ...
, a Dutch abstract artist, moved to Paris in 1920 *Elie Nadelman, lived in Paris for ten yearsJohn Russell, Art Review: ''Jewish Artists Who Made Paris Their Exuberant Garret'', New York Times, March 10, 2000
/ref> * Amshey Nurenberg, born in Elisavetgrad (Ukraine) in 1887, arrived in Paris in 1910, lived at La Ruche *Chana Orloff, Jewish portrait sculptor worked in Montparnasse *
Jules Pascin Julius Mordecai Pincas (March 31, 1885 – June 2, 1930), known as Pascin (, erroneously or ), Jules Pascin, also known as the "Prince of Montparnasse", was a Bulgarian artist of the School of Paris, known for his paintings and drawings. He ...
,Wendy Smith, ''The immigrants who were 'School of Paris' artists in early 20th century''
, Washington Post, June 19, 2015
Bulgarian-born Jew *Zinaida Serebriakova, Russian painter, arrived in Paris in 1905 *
Chaïm Soutine Chaïm Soutine (; ; ; 13 January 1893 – 9 August 1943) was a French painter of Belarusian-Jewish origin of the School of Paris, who made a major contribution to the Expressionist movement while living and working in Paris. Inspired by clas ...
, Jewish artist, born in a shtetl near Minsk, was unable to get a US visa when the German Army invaded, and lived in hiding under the occupation until he died in 1943 at age 50. Chaïm Soutine, Soutine, a friend of Modigliani, arrived in Paris in 1913 and lived at La Ruche *Avigdor Stematsky, Israeli, student of Yitzhak Frenkel, Isaac Frenkel, especially notable in his later abstract and cubist art * was born in Russia and arrived in Paris in 1920, where he was part of the Montparnasse émigré group. *Maurice Utrillo *Aleksander Vardi, Estonian painter, arrived in Paris in 1925 *Kuno Veeber, Estonian artist, arrived in Paris in 1924Õhtuleht
''Näitused'' 9 May 1998. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
*Max Weber (artist), Max Weber, German artist, arrived in Paris in 1905 *
Ossip Zadkine Ossip Alexeevich Zadkine (; 28 January 1888 – 25 November 1967) was a Russian and French artist of the School of Paris. He is best known as a sculptor, but also produced paintings and lithographs. Early years and education Zadkine was born o ...
, born in Belarus and lived at La Ruche *, born in Belarus, friend of Soutine * born in 1889 in Russia, died in France in 1977. Arrived in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in 1908. Volunteered for the French Foreign Legion in World War I, became a naturalised French citizen in 1938 * Fahrelnissa Zeid


Associated with artists

*Albert C. Barnes, whose buying trip to Paris gave many School of Paris artists their first break *Waldemar George, unfriendly art critic *Paul Guillaume, art dealer introduced to de Chirico by ApollinaireRobert Jenson, ''Why the School of Paris Is Not French'', Purdue University, Artl@s Bulletin, 2013 *Jonas Netter, an art collector *Madeline and Marcellin Castaing, collectors *André Warnod, a friendly art critic *Léopold Zborowski, art dealer, represented Modigliani and Soutine


Gallery

File:Jean Metzinger, c.1906, Femme au Chapeau (Woman with a Hat), oil on canvas, 44.8 x 36.8 cm, Korban Art Foundation..jpg,
Jean Metzinger Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...
, ''Femme au Chapeau, Femme au Chapeau (Woman with a Hat)'', c.1906, oil on canvas, 44.8 x 36.8 cm, Korban Art Foundation File:Marc Chagall, 1912, still-life (Nature morte), oil on canvas, private collection.jpg,
Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...
, ''Still-life (Nature morte)'', 1912, oil on canvas, private collection File:Robert Delaunay - Simultaneous Contrasts-Sun and Moon - 1912.jpg, Robert Delaunay, ''Simultaneous Contrasts: Sun and Moon'', 1912–13, oil on canvas, The Museum of Modern Art, New York City File:Moïse Kisling, 1913, Nu sur un divan noir, oil on canvas, 97 x 130 cm, published in Montjolie, 1914.jpg,
Moïse Kisling Moïse Kisling (born Mojżesz Kisling; 22 January 1891 – 29 April 1953) was a Polish-born French painter. Born in Kraków, then part of Austria-Hungary, to Jews, Jewish parents, Kisling studied at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, Academy ...
, ''Nu sur un divan noir'', 1913, oil on canvas, 97 x 130 cm File:Amedeo Modigliani 036.jpg,
Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (; ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern art, modern style characterized by a surre ...
, ''Portrait of
Chaïm Soutine Chaïm Soutine (; ; ; 13 January 1893 – 9 August 1943) was a French painter of Belarusian-Jewish origin of the School of Paris, who made a major contribution to the Expressionist movement while living and working in Paris. Inspired by clas ...
'', 1916 File:Amedeo Modigliani - Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz - Google Art Project.jpg, Amedeo Modigliani, ''Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz'', 1916 File:Jacques Lipchitz, 1920, Portrait of Jean Cocteau.jpg,
Jacques Lipchitz Jacques Lipchitz (26 May 1973) was a Lithuanian-born French-American Cubist sculptor. Lipchitz retained highly figurative and legible components in his work leading up to 1915–16, after which naturalist and descriptive elements were muted, domi ...
, ''Portrait of Jean Cocteau'', 1920 File:Paysage de Céret, Chaïm Soutine (1919) - Musée d'art et d'histoire du Judaïsme.jpg,
Chaïm Soutine Chaïm Soutine (; ; ; 13 January 1893 – 9 August 1943) was a French painter of Belarusian-Jewish origin of the School of Paris, who made a major contribution to the Expressionist movement while living and working in Paris. Inspired by clas ...
, ''Céret Landscape'', c. 1920, oil on canvas, 55 x 65 cm, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme File:Abraham Mintchine - Portrait of the Artist as a Harlequin 1931.jpg,
Abraham Mintchine Abraham Mintchine (4 April 1898 – 25 April 1931) was one of the major painters associated with the artists' environment known as School of Paris. A Jewish painter, born in Kyiv, he immigrated to Paris in 1925. His known artwork was produced ...
, ''Portrait of the artist as a Harlequin,'' oil on canvas, c.1931, 72.5x50cm, Tate, Tate gallery


See also


References


Further reading

* * * * ''Painters in Paris: 1895-1950'', Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2000 * ''Paris in New York: French Jewish Artists in Private Collections'', Jewish Museum, New York, 2000 * ''Windows on the City: The School of Paris, 1900–1945'', Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, 2016 * ''The Circle of Montparnasse, Jewish Artists in Paris 1905-1945, From Eastern Europe to Paris and Beyond'', exhibition catalogue Jewish Museum New York, 1985 *
Enriched by Otherness: Impact of the Ecole de Paris
', written in French by Juliette Gaufreteau, Sorbonne University, translation by Lily Pouydebasque, University College of London. Article available o
L'AiR Arts
Association website.


External links

*
Nadine Nieszawer's website, dedicated to the School of Paris 1905-1939
(includes many biographies)
The Second Spanish School of Paris


* : community website open to any fan to École de Paris in the world
The School of Paris 1945 – 1965Guggenheim holdings by School of Paris artists
{{Authority control School of Paris, Art Informel and Tachisme Modern art History of Paris French art movements