A friend of Matisse and Léger in his youth, Gromaire was nevertheless ‘no one's pupil’. He created his own style, which cannot be confused with any other.

He combined a powerful lyrical flair with a taste for geometric construction. Gromaire invented a form of realism that broke free from the rules and reflected the inspiration of the Primitives, Romanesque and Gothic artists: ‘He constructs his nudes like cathedrals’ said art critic Georges Boudaille. 

And if Gromaire erases or barely sketches the facial expressions of his models, it is because the body speaks for itself in a pose as symbolic as it is architectural!

Gromaire's "nude" is much more than a simple sensual representation; it is the constantly renewed allegory of captivating beauty which imposes itself on the painter and the spectator as self-evident.