Georges Rouault

A Steadfast Vision

Georges Rouault: A Steadfast Vision has been assembled to celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth and to introduce this critically important artist of faith from the 20th century. Every Christian should be acquainted with his profound vision.

Georges Rouault (1871–1958), considered as the most important Christian artist of the 20th century, knew his calling and stood firm against the tide of current art movements in the early twentieth century. Rouault found little attraction in the various art movements of his day, but worked believing that art flowed out of an interior life. He maintained a solitary path, a lonely journey to depict the world as he saw it. And with this steadfast vision before him, he relied more and more on his faith to guide his art making. Even when others, discouraged his artistic direction, he stayed the course and followed his vision.

Rouault was apprenticed in his youth to a stained glass firm and a medieval spirit resonates throughout his work, vividly seen with the black outlines that encased his figures and images, much as in a medieval stained glass window. This influence can be seen in all of his paintings and prints where a dark outline encompasses each figure and object.

Rouault believed that his art was more than just a means of personal expression. He considered his occupation as calling and felt honored to communicate the message of the Gospel to a troubled world.

This exhibition focuses on Rouault’s printmaking efforts. As a printmaker he worked in complex techniques that entailed a long and arduous process. A total of 18 prints are included in Georges Rouault: A Steadfast Vision. Five etchings from his Miserere Series, considered one of the most important printmaking suites of the twentieth century, incorporates multiple techniques to enrich the surface of each print. Other luminous aquatints from The Passion, along with several engravings and three lithographs, complete the glimpse of his work.