Alfred Manessier

French artist Alfred Manessier lived and worked in Paris during the German Occupation of France. Despite his abstract style—not unlike artist’s whose works were censored and deemed “degenerate”—and his teachings at the anti-authority organization Young France, Manessier was not detained by the Nazis. In 1943 he visited a monastery in Orne where he was deeply moved by the religious art and viewed the monastic life as opposite to the war and occupation. This print, Cathedral Form, is likely not a direct representation of the monastery at Orne, but may be a reference to the artist’s formative trip. At the urging of Georges Rouault, Manessier produced stained glass windows for churches throughout Europe.