Louis Marcoussis

Louis Marcoussis was a Polish-born painter of the Cubist circle in Paris. His still lifes, musical instruments, figures and harbour scenes break objects into overlapping planes, but with a lighter, more lyrical colour than many of his colleagues.

He was born Ludwik Markus in Poland, studied law in Warsaw and then painting at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts, before moving to Paris. His friend Guillaume Apollinaire suggested the name Marcoussis, after a village near Paris. From about 1911 he worked alongside Picasso, Braque and Juan Gris. He also made unusual paintings on glass, and from 1930 concentrated on etching and book illustration for poets such as Apollinaire, Tristan Tzara and Paul Éluard. He taught etching to Joan Miró in the late 1930s.

In Concert and Composition with Face and Shell, look at how he fits recognisable objects into a flat, carefully balanced pattern.