« The essential cubism, 1907-1920 », D. Cooper, Ed. The Tate Gallery, 1983
To read from the artist :
Catalogue(s) raisonné(s)
*« Sa vie, son oeuvre. C.R. des peintures, fixés sur verre, aquarelles, dessins et gravures », J. Lefranchis et autres, Les Editions du Temps, Paris, 1961 *« L’oeuvre gravé », Solange Millet, préface de Dora Vallier, Ed. Forlaget Cordelia, Copenhague, 1991 *« L’oeuvre peint », C. R. en préparation, Solange Millet, Marseille
SCHOOL OF PARIS MONTPARNASSE/1915-1935 / Amédéo Modigliani, Chaïm Soutine, Jules Pascin, Jacques Lipchitz, Léon Bakst, etc. CUBISM/1907-1925 / Massimo Campigli, Robert Delaunay, Marcel Duchamp, Charles Dufresne, Robert de La Fresnaye, Henri Laurens, Jacques Lipchitz, Jean Metzinger, etc.
Louis Marcoussis - his real name was Ludwig Casimir Ladislas Markus until 1912 - was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1878. In 1901, he gave up his law studies in Warsaw, to study painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. At the age of 25, in 1903, he goes to Paris. He continues his studies at the Julian Art Academy at the studio of Jules Lefebvre.
The artist exhibits for the first time at the Salon d’Automne in 1905. He earns his living making caricatures for satirical journals (‘La Vie Parisienne’, ‘L’Assiette au Beurre’). The year 1907 the artist has a creative crisis: he destroys his works and abandons painting for a while. Markus will however very quickly become part of group of bohemian artists of Montmartre and Montparnasse and becomes friends with Jean Moréas, Alfred Jarry and Edgar Degas. He frequents the cafes where he meets Braque, Picasso, Apollinaire; it is Apollinaire who will Frenchify his name: he becomes Louis Marcoussis. The artists will naturally become part of the current avant-garde of the School of Paris (Apollinaire, Picasso, Juan Gris, Max Jacob, Metzinger, etc.).
At the beginning of impressionism, his art style leans towards cubism in 1910. In 1912, he participates in the Salon Section d’Or at La Boëtie Gallery. He marries Alice Halicka, a Polish painter, in 1913. The years of the war he is obligated to return to Poland to fight; he joins the Foreign Legion where he will serve until 1919.
He participates in different Parisian Salons (Salon d’Automne, des Indépendants and the Tuileries), as well as in group art exhibitions abroad. His first solo exhibition is organised in 1925 at the Pierre Chareau Gallery. He also exhibits at Gernheim’s in 1929 and Jeanne Bucher’s in 1929. The 1930’s are the years he will work essentially with engraving, perfecting his great ability with etched engravings, water tints and dry-point technique, he will teach the art of engraving at the Schlapfer Academy in Paris. Louis Marcoussis will make illustrations for the poems of T. Tzara in 1926 and 1928, for ‘Aurélie’ by Gérard de Nerval and ‘Alcools’ by Appollinaire in 1934.
In the period between the wars he makes several trips: to Poland, England, Belgium, Italy and the United States; exhibitions are organized under his name. In 1940, on the arrival of the German troops, Louis Marcoussis departs for Cusset, near Vichy, where he dies one year later. A posthumous exhibition of the artists’ works was organized in 1964 at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. In 1985 the works of Louis Marcoussis form a part of the exhibition ‘The Circle of Jewish Montparnasse Artists in Paris’ in New York. His art is present in all the great museums of the world.
Louis Marcoussis - his real name was Ludwig Casimir Ladislas Markus until 1912 - was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1878. In 1901, he gave up his law studies in Warsaw, to study painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. At the age of 25, in 1903, he goes to Paris. He continues his studies at the Julian Art Academy at the studio of Jules Lefebvre. 
At the beginning of impressionism, his art style leans towards 
In the period between the wars he makes several trips: to Poland, England, Belgium, Italy and the United States; exhibitions are organized under his name. In 1940, on the arrival of the German troops, Louis Marcoussis departs for Cusset, near Vichy, where he dies one year later. A posthumous exhibition of the artists’ works was organized in 1964 at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. In 1985 the works of Louis Marcoussis form a part of the exhibition ‘