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.