His mother encouraged his love for the arts, and, in 1885, the fourteen-year-old Rouault embarked on an apprenticeship as a glass painter and restorer, which lasted until 1890.

[2] From 1895 on, he took part in major public exhibitions, notably the Salon d'Automne (which he helped to found), where paintings with religious subjects, landscapes, and still lifes were shown.

While Matisse represented the reflective and rationalized aspects of the group, Rouault embodied a more spontaneous and instinctive style.

He became attracted to Spiritualism and the dramatic existentialism of the philosopher Jacques Maritain, who remained a close friend for the rest of his life.

Rouault said: "A tree against the sky possesses the same interest, the same character, the same expression as the figure of a human."

The face of Jesus and the cries of the women at the feet of the cross are symbols of the pain of the world, which for Rouault was relieved by belief in resurrection.

Rouault advised French art dealer Paul Rosenberg on several purchases.

At the end of his life, he burned 300 of his pictures (estimated to be worth today about more than half a billion francs).