Albert Andr?

(b Lyon, 24 May 1869; d Laudun, Gard, 11 July 1954). French painter, writer and museum curator. He received his initial art training in Lyon and began his career designing patterns for silk, the city's principal industry. After moving to Paris in 1889, he attended the Acad?mie Julian and subsequently met Louis Valtat, Paul Ranson, Georges D'Espagnat and Henri Bataille (1872-1922). Perhaps the most important influence on his work was Auguste Renoir, who first saw Andr?'s paintings in 1894 at the Salon des Ind?pendants and was so favourably impressed that he recommended Andr? to the dealer Paul Durand-Ruel. The two artists struck up a close relationship, which lasted until Renoir's death in 1919. Andr?'s monograph Renoir (1919) is one of the most accurate contemporary accounts of the artist's work.

See the Abbreviations for further details.