Artist. An early Impressionist style French painter, he was later converted to Fauvism, a painterly (visible brushstrokes) style of strong color, a movement led by artists Henri Matisse and Andre Derain, that lasted only briefly in the early 1900s. Born Achille-Emile Othon Friesz in Le Havre, France, he came from a family of shipbuilders and sea captains. He attended local schools and became interested in art after becoming acquainted with future French artist Raoul Dufy. From 1895 until 1896 he studied at the Le Harve School of Fine Arts and in 1899 he enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, France where he remained until 1904, the year he had his first solo art exhibition at the Galerie des Collectionneurs in Paris. The following year he became influenced by Fauvism and painted in La Cioat, France. In 1907 the Fauvism novelty wore off and he began to paint with a less colorful style. The following year, he left Paris and returned to Le Harve and opened his own studio in 1912 where he taught until the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, He served in the French Army until the end of the war and returned to Paris. In 1929 he became a professor at the Academie Scandinave in Paris and in the early 1940s he taught at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere, also in Paris. He died in Paris at the age of 69. Among his notable works include “The Seine at Paris, Pont de Grenelle” (1901), “The Castle of Falaise, Evening” (1904), “Autumn Works” (1907), “The Bathers of Andelys” (1908), “Roofs and Cathedrals in Rouen” (1908), “Landscape with Figures” (1909), “Flowers Still-Life” (1910), “Temptation (Adam and Eve)” (1910), “The Sunken Road in Winther” (1913), “The Woman on the Green Sofa” (1927), and “Portrait of Karin” (1939). His works are on display in some of the world’s most noted art museums. (bio by: William Bjornstad)