André Michel

André Michel first studied history and art at the University of Montpellier. From 1872 to 1876, he attended the university in Aix-en-Provence, from where he graduated in law. He then spent three years at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. There he also studied at the Collège de France and the École des Beaux-Arts.

Michel soon became an art critic for various magazines. He wrote regularly for the Gazette des Beaux-Arts (from 1884) and the Journal des Débats (from 1886). From 1883-93 he taught art history at the École Spéciale d’Architecture. He gave up teaching to take a position as assistant curator of the sculpture department at the Louvre. In 1896, he succeeded the curator and began teaching “History of French Sculpture” at the École du Louvre. He also lectured throughout Europe and in the United States.

In 1920, Michel left the Louvre to become a professor of French art history at the Collège de France. His multi-volume work, Histoire de l’Art, remained unfinished at his death. The last volume was published in 1929 by his successor at the Louvre.

In 1900, Michel was made a knight and in 1919 an officer of the Legion of Honor, and in 1918 he was elected as a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts.