Born Again (1922–1931)

This chapter details events in Roland Penrose's life from 1922 to 1931. Roland travelled to Paris in 1922. He visited museums, art galleries, the flea market in Saint-Eustache and the Jardin des Plantes by day; by night he was awestruck by the glamour of Pigalle and Montparnasse. He attended at the studio of André Lhote, whose work had become cubist after a stint as a Fauve. Lhote, a native of Bordeaux, learned wood-carving and sculpture from the age of 12, when his father apprenticed him to a local furniture maker to be trained as a sculptor in wood. Through Lhote, Roland became aware of the monumental contributions made by cubism's inventors: Gris, Braque, and especially Picasso. He would marry the mysterious, illusive Valentine Boué on 21 December 1925.