André Fougeron

André Fougeron (1 October 1913 – 10 September 1998) was a French painter. A representative of the Nouveau Réalisme movement, the main subjects of his paintings were the themes of everyday life and social struggle of the French people.

Biography Fougeron was born into a working-class family and himself was a metal worker. A self-taught painter from a young age, he sent a painting to the Salon des Indépendants in 1928. In the 1930s, alongside artists such as Maurice Estève and Édouard Pignon in particular, fought for the establishment of the unemployment fund for artists and craftsmen and, jointly, with the Union of unemployed committees in the Paris region, for the increase unemployment benefit.

After serving in the military, he returned to Paris and joined Louis Aragon's Maison de la culture movement with his friend Boris Taslitzky. Inspired by Pablo Picasso's Guernica, Fougeron created many paintings depicting the Spanish Civil War and in support of the Republicans. In 1939, Fougeron joined the French Communist Party and remained a member until his death.

At the Liberation, Fougeron worked the office of Fine Arts until November 1944. He was then one of the favorite artists of the Communist Party. He was recognized by the party as one of the "leaders of the new realism" with other artists such as Taslitzky. He exhibited in numerous events organized by the Communist Party from 1948 to 1954.