George-Daniel de Monfreid (14 March 1856, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 - 26 November 1929, Corneilla-de-Conflent

Corneilla-de-Conflent

Corneilla-de-Conflent is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.It is home the church of St. Mary, a 11th-12th century Romanesque building.-References:*...

) was a French painter and art collector.

He was born the United States, but spent his childhood in the south of France. Early he decided on a career in art, and enrolled at the Académie Julian

Académie Julian

The Académie Julian was an art school in Paris, France.Rodolphe Julian established the Académie Julian in 1868 at the Passage des Panoramas, as a private studio school for art students. The Académie Julian not only prepared students to the exams at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, but offered...

, and formed friendships with Paul Gauguin

Paul Gauguin

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a leading French Post-Impressionist artist. He was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, print-maker, ceramist, and writer...

, Verlaine

Verlaine

Verlaine is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. On January 1, 2006 Verlaine had a total population of 3,507. The total area is 24.21 km² which gives a population density of 145 inhabitants per km². The municipality contains the villages...

 and Aristide Maillol

Aristide Maillol

Aristide Maillol or Aristides Maillol was a French Catalan sculptor and painter.-Biography:...

.

Initially his work was Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist, but his close association Les Nabis

Les Nabis

Les Nabis were a group of Post-Impressionist avant-garde artists who set the pace for fine arts and graphic arts in France in the 1890s. Initially a group of friends interested in contemporary art and literature, most of them studied at the private art school of Rodolphe Julian in Paris in the...

 group pushed his style in the direction of Gauguin.

He was also an art collector and a patron of the arts. Along with Gustave Fayet

Gustave Fayet

Gustave Fayet was a French painter. His work is close in style to that of Paul Gauguin or Odilon Redon. He learnt to draw and paint with his father, Gabriel Fayet, and his uncle Léon Fayet, who both admired pre-impressionnist painters such as Adolphe Monticelli or Camille Corot...

, he was one of the first collectors of the works of Gauguin at the time he was exiled in the Pacific. He was also one of the first biographers of Gauguin. He was also influenced by the cubism

Cubism

Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...

 of Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...

late in his career.