Jean Laboureur was born in Nantes in 1877. He studied law in Paris and in the years 1895-1898 he  simultaneously  learnt the art of engraving under the guidance of A.Lepere, and lithography with Toulouse-Lautrec.

 

He subsequently visited the major museums in Germany, 1899-1903, and settled in North America between 1903-1908. Here he carried-out prints and woodcuts showing major industrial cities.

 

Laboureur returned to Paris in 1901and worked as a translator for the British Army during WWI. Although his work remained figurative, he discovered Cubism and enjoyed using the geometric simplification of form.  In the immediate post-war period Laboureur illustrated books (a total of 66 between 1920-1938) and founded the Association of Painters & Engravers.

 

He died in 1943 in Penestin, South Brittany.