Jean Metzinger
French, 1883-1956
An important figure in Cubism, Jean Metzinger participated in the first exhibition of Cubist works at the Salon des Indépendents in 1911, alongside Albert Gleizes, Fernand Léger, and Robert Delaunay.
A few years earlier, Guillaume Apollinaire had introduced Metzinger to the founders of Cubism, Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, who both had a significant impact on his work.
In 1912 he collaborated with Gleizes to write Du Cubisme, which proposed a theoretical foundation for Cubism. The artist was also a founding member of the Puteaux Group, a cohort of painters, sculptors, and critics who came to prominence following their controversial 1911 exhibition.