(Lyon 1824 – Paris 1898)
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824-1898) was an innovative French painter whose artistic approach anticipated many aspects of 20th-century modernism. He distilled complex scenes into essential elements, focusing on the synthesis of shapes and colours to convey meaning and emotion. This reductionist approach foreshadowed the abstraction and simplification observed in later artistic movements such as Cubism. Picasso greatly admired Puvis de Chavannes’ use of simplified forms, expressive symbolism, and bold compositions.
