SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
Born in Paris in 1915, Jacques Germain is a French painter whose training takes him from the Académie Moderne to the Bauhaus in Dessau. He studies at the Académie Moderne, directed by Fernand Léger and Amédée Ozenfant. Arriving in Dessau in October 1931, he stays there for two semesters and attends, in particular, Vassily Kandinsky’s classes.
Following the Nazis’ rise to power in Germany, he returns to Paris and works in advertising illustration. After his military service in 1936, he is taken prisoner during the war and remains in captivity for three years. On his return to France, he devotes himself primarily to painting.
His first solo exhibition takes place in Paris in 1949, the year Jacques Germain, peintures, a book with a preface by Marthe Robert, is published. Over the following decades, he is represented by several Paris galleries, including Maeght in 1951, Pierre Loeb in 1953 and Dina Vierny in 1961; the Barbier-Beltz gallery represents him from 1985 to 1997. In 1997, a retrospective is organised at the Couvent des Cordeliers in Paris, while a publication devoted to the artist, bearing the name of Lydia Harambourg, is published within the framework of the Association pour la promotion des arts du XXe siècle and the Direction des Affaires culturelles de la Ville de Paris.
Works by Germain are recorded in several public collections, notably at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lille and in museums in Oslo, Bergen, Bremen and Lausanne. In 2002, in accordance with his wishes, the contents of his studio are bequeathed to the Ligue nationale contre le cancer.
This profile brings together identity references for Jacques Germain and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
13 references are documented at Dobiaschofsky, DognyAuction, Genève Enchères, Germann, Lempertz, Piguet. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.
Watercolour
Composition abstraite rouge
aquarelle
Catalogue period : 2026-09-22
Published result : 600 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 600–800
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Gouache
Composition abstraite
gouache
Catalogue period : 2026-04-27
Published result : 1000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 1000–1500
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Oil on paper, mounted on canvas
Sans titre.
Öl auf Papier, auf Leinwand
Catalogue period : 2024-11-08
Published result : 2000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 3000
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Oil on paper
Sans titre.
Öl auf Papier
Catalogue period : 2022-11-04
Published result : 1500 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 2000
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Oil on paper
Composition
huile sur papier
Catalogue period : 2020-09-04 — 2020-09-23
Published result : 800 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 600–800
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Oil on canvas
Ohne Titel
Öl auf Leinwand
Auction date : 2015-11-28
Published result : 4464 EUR
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : 2500
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Oil on paper
Composition abstraite.
Öl auf Papier
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
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Oil on paper
Composition abstraite
huile sur papier
Date to be documented
Published result : 1249 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
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Oil on canvas
Composition, 1959
Öl auf Leinwand.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
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Oil on canvas
Composition, 1957
Öl auf Leinwand.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
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Oil on canvas
Composition, 1960
Öl auf Leinwand.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
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Oil on canvas
Sans titre
huile sur toile
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 2000–3000
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Oil on canvas
Sans titre.
Öl auf Leinwand
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19
