School of Paris (French: École de Paris) refers to a group of French and non-French artists who worked in Paris before World War I, and also to a group of French and non-French artists who lived in Paris between the two world wars and beyond.
The School of Paris was not a single art movement or institution, but it demonstrated the importance of Paris as a center of Western art in the early decades of the 20th century. Between 1900 and 1940 the city became a magnet for artists from all over the world and a centre for artistic activity. School of Paris was used to describe this broad affiliation, particularly of non-French artists.
Before World War I, a group of expatriates in Paris created in the styles of Post-Impressionism, Cubism and Fauvism. It included artists like Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Amedeo Modigliani and Piet Mondrian. French artists included Pierre Bonnard, Henri Matisse, Jean Metzinger and Albert Gleizes. Picasso and Matisse have been described as the twin leaders (chefs d’école) of the school.
Many of these artists, as well as Jean Arp, Robert Delaunay, Sonia Delaunay, Joan Miró, Constantin Brâncuși, Raoul Dufy, Tsuguharu Foujita and Emmanuel Mané-Katz. The artists from Belarus, including Chaim Soutine, Michel Kikoine, Pinchus Kremegne, Ossip Zadkine, Jacques Lipchitz, Alexis Arapoff, Polish artist Marek Szwarc and others including Russian prince born in Saint Petersburg worked in Paris between World War I and World War II, in various styles including Surrealism and Dada. A significant group of Jewish artists working together came to be known as the Jewish School of Paris. This group included Emmanuel Mané-Katz, Chaïm Soutine, Adolphe Féder, Chagall, Moïse Kisling, and Jules Pascin. The Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaisme has works from artists such as Jules Pascin, Michel Kikoine, Soutine, and Jacques Lipschitz.