Courthion, Pierre

French art critic and historian. Student at the Universite de Geneve; Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris; and Ecole du Louvre. From 1933 to 1939 he was Director of the Cite Universitaire de Paris.

Pierre Courthion (1902-1988) was a prominent Swiss-born art critic and historian. Courthion's major projects focused on the history of American, French and European art including the art of Paris and Montmartre, Romanticism and Realism, the Impressionist movement, Swiss art, and the contemporary art of his time.

Biographical/Historical Note

Pierre Courthion (1902-1988) was a prominent Swiss-born art critic and historian. Courthion's major projects focused on the history of American, French and European art including the art of Paris and Montmartre, Romanticism and Realism, the Impressionist movement, Swiss art, and the contemporary art of his time. Courthion attended the Université de Géneve and received a scholarship to study painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. While in Paris, Courthion spent time in Montmartre where he became acquainted with and developed friendships with artists such as Alberto Giacometti and Kurt Seligmann and encountered many of the artists living and working there, many of whom would be the focus of his later publications. Courthion was a student at the Louvre and did his doctoral work on the painter, Jean-Étienne Liotard. Over the course of his career, Courthion traveled widely for his research, lecture tours, and conferences. He lived and worked in France for most of his life.

For a complete bibliography of Pierre Courthion's works, consult his autobiography, D'une palette à l'autre: mémoires d'un critique d'art, which was published after his death in 2004.

Fuller biography of Pierre Courthion.