b Krakow, Poland, 22 Jan 1891; d Sanary, France, 29 April 1953). French painter of Polish birth. He studied at the School of Fine Arts in Krakow, where his teachers included Jozef Pankiewicz, a fervent admirer of Auguste Renoir and the French Impressionists, who encouraged him to go to Paris. He arrived there in 1910, frequented Montmartre and Montparnasse, and soon became acquainted with Amedeo Modigliani, Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Max Jacob, André Salmon and Chaïm Soutine. For a short time he lived in the Bateau-Lavoir in Montmartre and in 1911-12 spent nearly a year at Céret. In 1913 he took a studio in Montparnasse, where he lived for the next 27 years; Jules Pascin and later Modigliani lived in the same building. On the outbreak of World War I he volunteered for service in the French Foreign Legion, and in 1915 he was seriously wounded in the Battle of the Somme, for which he was awarded French nationality. (Source: www.lucienkrief.co.il)
