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Born in 1885 in Bordeaux, André Lhote entered the studio of a furniture maker at age 12 to be trained as a sculptor in wood. In 1905, he abandoned sculpture for painting, and two years later in 1907, he participated in the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon d’Automne.
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The following year he established residence in Paris, where he had his first one-man show at the Galérie Druet in 1910. Charles Morice, a friend of Verlaine and Gauguin, wrote the preface to the catalogue: “Lhote brings to his observations of life a passion rooted in his inner life, and this intimate ardour augurs great things. He is developing fast.” Charles Morice’s predictions, as well as those of André Gide, André Salmon, Jacques Rivière, and Alain Fournier, became a reality in experiments that would lead Lhote to Cubism.
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In 1912, he participated in the myth-making Section d’Or exhibit rue la Boétie that brought together the fathers of modern art – Gleizes, Villon, Duchamp, Metzinger, Picabia, La Fresnaye, and others.
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He founded his own school in 1922 where he encouraged and helped develop the talents of many young artists. One of his teaching techniques was to make them rethink the classical problems in the light of an ingenious interpretation of optical phenomena. An outstanding personality in contemporary art, Lhote for many years was an art critic at the Nouvelle Revue Française, and he has written several books analysing the aims and technique of art. His paintings, geometric in concept, are based on analysis and construction.
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He is represented in the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris and in many other museums in France and abroad.
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