Marcel Jean

Marcel Jean (1900, Charité-sur-Loire, France – 1993, Louveciennes, France) studied at the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris before becoming a central figure of the Surrealist movement in 1932. He participated in the landmark Fantastic Art, Dada and Surrealism at MoMA in 1936, and went on to exhibit in every major International Surrealism exhibition throughout the history of the movement. Beyond his studio practice—which encompassed painting, collage, drawing, and sculpture—Jean was a preeminent Surrealist scholar, authoring the definitive History of Surrealist Painting (1959) and editing the Autobiography of Surrealism (1980). His work is held by the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and the Art Institute of Chicago, among others.