He was born in Nantes. Early in his career he was impressed by the paintings of Ingres, and Ingres�f classicism was always a fundamental component in his own work. He briefly flirted with divisionism and Fauvism, but in 1908 he became involved with the Cubist circle. He exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants and at the Section d�fOr, which he helped found. His brand of Cubism was more colouristic than that of Picasso and Braque. With Glaizes, he produced the text Du Cubisme in 1912 and thus helped disseminate the Cubist style internationally.