Ubac, Raoul

Ubac, Raoul (1910–1985). Belgian painter, sculptor, graphic artist, photographer, and designer, active mainly in France. Between 1928 and 1934 he travelled extensively in Europe and his artistic training was irregular and varied. From about 1934 to 1942 he concentrated on photography, joining the Surrealist group in Paris and contributing Surrealist photographs to the journal Minotaure. In 1942 he abandoned both Surrealism and photography, returning to painting, and in 1946 he began to make double-sided reliefs in slate. His early work had been abstract, but after the Second World War it became more figurative. Apart from paintings and sculpture, he did a large amount of graphic work, including woodcuts and book illustrations, and also made designs for tapestry (notably a series for the Nouveau Palais de Justice, Lille, 1969) and for stained glass (including work done in collaboration with Georges Braque for a church at Varengeville). In 1957 he settled in L'Oise. See also HARE.