Othon Friesz

Othon Friesz (6 February 1879 - 10 January 1949), a native of Le Havre, was a French artist of the Fauvist movement. Othon Friesz was born in Le Havre, the son of a long line of shipbuilders and sea captains. He went to school in his native city. It was while he was at the Lycée that he met his lifelong friend Raoul Dufy. He and Dufy studied at the Le Havre School of Fine Arts in 1895-96 and then went to Paris together for further study. In Paris... more

Othon Friesz (6 February 1879 - 10 January 1949), a native of Le Havre, was a French artist of the Fauvist movement. Othon Friesz was born in Le Havre, the son of a long line of shipbuilders and sea captains. He went to school in his native city. It was while he was at the Lycée that he met his lifelong friend Raoul Dufy. He and Dufy studied at the Le Havre School of Fine Arts in 1895-96 and then went to Paris together for further study. In Paris, Friesz met Henri Matisse, Albert Marquet, and Georges Rouault. And like them he rebelled against the academic teaching of Bonnat and became a member of the Fauves, exhibiting with them in 1907. The following year Friesz left Paris to return to Normandy and to a much more traditional style of painting, since he had discovered that his personal goals in painting were firmly rooted in the past. He opened his own studio in 1912 and taught until 1914 at which time he joined the army for the duration of the war. He returned to Paris in 1919 and... less