Fougeron Andre

He was a self-taught painter. He worked as a metal worker for Renault Enterprises. In 1939 he became a member of the Communist Party and during the German occupation was very active in the Resistance. In 1941 he turned his studio into an illegal printing shop where he designed the titles for illegal newspapers as well as printing most them. The same year he presented his work in the exhibition “Vingt Peintres des traditions francaise”.

In 1942 he was put in charge of art matters for the National Front of the Arts and worked together with Edouard Pignon and Edouard Goerg. The following year he participated in the exhibition “Douze peinters d’ aujourd’ hui”, which played a definitive role in the creation of a new School of Paris. The group would be named New French Realists.

In 1944 he met Pierre Villon and Paul Eluard. After the Liberation, he was assigned the organization of an exhibition of Picasso’s works, by then a symbol of the resistance against the German occupation. He presented the work “la Guerre” and later, after steps were taken by the National Front, it was purchased by the state. In 1947 he took a journey to Italy for many months where he studied Italian painting and met Italian artists.

His first solo exhibition was in 1946 and this was followed by a great deal of exhibition activity. He decorated the church at Romainville and did other public buildings as well. He won many prizes. In 1954 he was invited to the Venice Biennale for his lithographs.

His subject matter always was involved with social and political criticism and his works were commentaries on the major events of his era.