Henri Laurens

Henri Laurens (1885-1954), artist

Born in Paris, France on February 18, 1885, Henri Laurens worked as a stonemason before he became a sculptor. In 1899 he attended drawing classes which produced works by him thast were greatly influenced by the popularity of Auguste Rodin. Later though, he would be drawn to a new gathering of artistic creativity happening in Montparnasse, and from 1911 he began to sculpt in the Cubist style after meeting Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Gris and Fernand Leger.

- Henri Laurens -

Multi-talented, Laurens worked with poster paint, and collage, was an engraver and creasted theatre design and decoration. In 1915 Henri Laurens illustrated a book for his friend, the author Pierre Reverdy. In 1938 he shared an exhibition with Braque and Picasso that traveled to major Scandanavian cities. Later, in 1947, he made prints for book illustrations and in 1948 he showed his art at the important Venice Biennale That same year, he exhibited at the Galerie d'Art Moderne in Basel, Switzerland.

A great many of his sculptures are massive objects such as the monumental piece done in 1952 for the University of Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela.

Henri Laurens died in Paris on May 5, 1954 and was interred in the Cimetiere de Montparnasse, Paris, France. His tomb is decorated with one of his own large sculptures, "La Douleur" (Grief).