After the early death of his father, he and his mother moved to La Chaux-de-Fonds, where Marie Evard ran a pastry shop.
Initially working as a pastry chef, André received an inheritance which enabled him to study art.
He studied at the École d'Art in La Chaux-de-Fonds from 1905 to 1909 and attended courses in decorative art with Charles L'Eplattenier, a former student of Ferdinand Hodler.
He was particularly interested in the nature of the Jura and encouraged his pupils to "[...] study the nature of the Jura – from the fir trees to the tectonics of the limestone cliffs – analyse their regularities and translate them into abstract ornaments" (in German: [...] die Natur des Juras – von den Tannen bis zur Tektonik der Kalkfelsen – zu studieren, deren Regelmässigkeiten zu analysieren und in abstrakte Ornamente zu übertragen.
Among his friends at university were Le Corbusier, Conrad Meili and Léon Perrin, with whom he decorated and painted private villas.
[3] Evard became a member of the Christian Youth Association of the pastor and administered the publication of the weekly newspaper for almost 30 years.
Thus from 1913 he undertook the first non-objective, cubist and constructive attempts, which were ultimately to place him in the front rank not only of the Swiss avant-garde.
[4] After the death of his mother longer stays in Paris followed from 1923 to 1927, during which he again dealt intensively with the old and modern masters and got to know artists like Georges Braque, Robert Delaunay and Theo van Doesburg, who tried in vain to win him for cooperation in the 'De Stijl' group[5] In addition, he came into contact with African sculpture for the first time, which increased his interest in non-European art.
Although André Evard was now at the center of the avant-garde, he responded to requests from the art trade by rejecting them and almost never gave his works to galleries or collectors.
In addition to other Concrete works, a multitude of traditionally figurative, almost deserted landscapes and still lifes were created, characterized by strong colors: "La Chaux-de-Fonds lies at around 1,000 metres above sea level and is therefore one of the highest cities in Europe.
The steep valley flanks (Côtes du Doubs) are densely wooded and partly crossed by rocky outcrops" (in German: La Chaux-de-Fonds liegt auf rund 1.000 Meter über dem Meeresspiegel und ist damit eine der höchstgelegenen Städte Europas.
Die steilen Talflanken (Côtes du Doubs) sind dicht bewaldet und teilweise mit Felsbändern durchzogen.
Since official Swiss art was based on traditional tastes, it became almost impossible to obtain a public contract.
[6] After completing his studies, Evard initially painted in the French tradition of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Evard reduces the representationalism through spatial and surface tensions – but achieves emotional values such as warm and cold, light and dark, playful and harsh through the choice of color.