Maurice Marinot

Maurice Marinot was a French artist. He was a painter considered a member of Les Fauves, and then a major artist in glass.
Marinot's father was a bonnet maker. Maurice did poorly in school, but convinced his parents to send him to the École des Beaux-Arts in 1901 to train as a painter under French painter, Fernand Cormon. He left art school after his work wasn't accepted by the standards of the day. In 1905 he returned to Troyes, where he stayed for the rest of his life.
In 1911 he visited his first glass shop, owned by his friends, the Viard brothers. He fell in love with the contrasts between colors, hot and cold, the play of light and fire. He began designing bowls, vases and bottles which his friends made, then he painted enamels on the surface.
In 1912 he had his first exhibition and by 1913 critics were praising his work, saying “It has been a long time since an innovation of such great importance has come to enrich the art of glass”. From that year he stopped exhibiting his paintings.
The Viard brothers give Marinot his own bench and a set of tools, so he learned quickly how to blow glass.