Albert Gleizes (8 December 1881 - 23 June 1953), French Cubist painter, writer.
Born in Paris, when he was 19 he started working in his father's interior desing and fabrics business. He also started painting and exhibited for the first time in 1902 at the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Gleizes' first works were Impressionist, but a little later he started to be atracted to social themes. He was in the army between 1903 - 1905 and there discovered more about the working class.
After returning home he founded the Association Ernest Renan, a popular university with socialist aims. Gleizes was also the founder of an intelectual community, Abbaye de Creteil, near Paris, which will disolve in 1908 for financial reasons.
In 1920 Gleizes exhibits at the Salon des Independants, Paris, then in Moscow and the next year he wrote his first articles, for various publications. He also published his essay Du cubisme, wrote together with Metzinger, in 1912.
By 1915 his style was becoming increasingly abstract, and during the next years the artist travelled to New York, Barcelona and Bermuda. Gleizes had his first solo exhibition in 1916 in Barcelona, and in 1927 he founded another artistic community, Moly-Sabata, in Sablons. In the 30's he was an important Abstract artist and later he also accepted some important state commisions, such as the mural for the World Fair in Paris.
