School of Paris

During the first half of the twentieth century, the city of Paris developed into one of Western Art History's most formidable centres of artistic innovation and genius. The Paris School (Ecole de Paris) is used to describe the group of artists that lived and worked in Paris during this period. The city's bohemian reputation was particularly appealing to those with more avant-garde interests, with artists travelling to the city from across Europe and the United States. Artists who flocked to the city include Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Georges Braque, Joan Miró, Amedeo Modigliani, and Marc Chagall.

Although the School of Paris is not considered to include a particular art movement or institution, several highly influential art movements were born during this period such as Surrealism, Dada and Orphism. The city provided a space for artistic community, where artists challenged tradition in relation to style, subject matter and exhibition practices.

Two artists in particular - Picasso and Braque - pioneered a new way of seeing through the development of Cubism, which aimed to reflect the modern age. For a number of years, the pair were considered to be inseparable, with Braque commenting "We were like mountain-climbers roped together". Equally, Picasso recalled - "Almost every evening, either I went to Braque's studio or Braque came to mine". When Chagall first moved to Paris in 1910, he already held Picasso's work to high regard, going as far as to ask his friend, the French Poet Guillaume Apollinaire for an introduction. All three artists - Braque, Picasso and Chagall explored the art of printmaking during their time in Paris, with each pushing the boundaries of the artistic practice in style and practice.