I studied at the School of fine arts, the académie Julian, he studied sculpture at the Field Londonskogo. He was influenced by Bergson's ideas. At the Sorbonne, together with Baltrusaitis Jurgis listened to the course of art history Emil Malle and Henri Fasion. In 1924 he began to paint himself, copying the designs in the Louvre. In 1930 participated in a collective exhibition along with Jean Fautrier and Ivan Puni. First solo exhibition (1932) were approved by Pierre Bonnard. In the 1930-ies was close to Emmanuel Mounier and his circle of the magazine "Esprit", to a progressive Catholic newspaper "Temps présent", Jacques Maritain, on the contrary, in opposition to surrealism and Communist radicalism, as well as to geometric abstraction. In 1937 he made stained glass for the International exhibition in Paris. Worked as a theater artist. Met and became friends with Jacques Villon, became friends with Jean Vilara and Maurice Blanchot.
He was drafted into the army in 1939 and demobilized in 1941. In 1941, under the German occupation, organized an exhibition of art of the avant-garde "Twenty young painters of French tradition" branded official of the Vichy press as degenerate art. Became friends with many French poets (Eugene Helvik, Andre preno, Jean Tardieu), met Georges Braque, Georges Rouault. Worked on stained glass in the Church of assy (Haute-Savoie). Workshop in a fire in 1945 destroyed almost all of his work until 1942.
After the war, one of the leaders of abstract expressionism in France. The artist comes to international fame: in 1946-1947, his large-scale exhibition was organized in Amsterdam, Stockholm, Copenhagen. In 1951 and 1954 working on mosaics and stained glass of the Church sacré Coeur in Audincourt (Doubs Department). After 1958, his retrospective exhibition held in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, in 1965 — in the state Museum of contemporary art in Paris. In 1960-e years working on the stained glass Windows of the Church Saint-séverin in the Latin quarter of Paris. In 1967, together with Alexander Calder, organizes exhibitions in support of Vietnam. In 1976, with Alfred Manase creates an Association for the protection of the French stained glass Windows. Working on illustrations for the books of rené Ball, Gilwice, Keno, Tardieu, Reno, Claude Esteban, and others In the mid-1980s working on the Church's stained glass Windows in Saint-dié-des-Vosges. In 1990, his retrospective was presented at the Paris Grand Palais.
