Albert Gleizes
Co-wrote the book that explained Cubism, then spent decades arguing about what it meant.
Albert Gleizes was born in Paris in 1881 and was, with Jean Metzinger, the author of Du Cubisme in 1912 — the first substantial theoretical account of the movement, published while Picasso and Braque were writing nothing at all. He was central to the Salon Cubists and the Section d'Or, spent the First World War years in New York and Barcelona, and afterwards moved towards a rhythmic, rotational abstraction he theorised at length in further books. He converted to Catholicism, founded a rural artistic community at Moly-Sabata, and pursued religious and mural painting until his death in 1953.
The Cubist years from about 1910 to 1915 are far ahead of the rest of the output, and the later theoretical and religious work, though extensive, is a much more modest market. Gleizes is well catalogued by Anne Varichon and the Fondation Albert Gleizes, and provenance for the pre-war pictures is usually traceable through the Salon exhibition record. There is a substantial body of drawings and gouaches, and a smaller printed output. Condition issues typically relate to early canvases that have been lined or heavily varnished.
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