Germaine Richier (French, 1902–1959) was a sculptor, who worked with famous sculptors Antoine Bourdelle and Alberto Giacometti before developing her own style of roughly modeled bronze figures. Born in Grans in Southern France, Richier studied at the Ecole des Beaux Art in Montpellier before working in Bourdelle’s studio, where she also met Giacometti, whose attenuated forms impacted her style. In the 1930s, she gained public recognition for her bronze chimeras, which fused animal and human forms, through her first solo exhibition in 1934 and participation in the Paris World Exposition in 1937. She and her husband retreated to Switzerland during World War II, but continued to exhibit her works. After the war, her sculptures became more abstracted, as Richier incorporated the psychic trauma and bodily injuries she witnessed into her figural forms. Her critical acclaim grew in the 1950s, as she exhibited in museums and galleries around the world, but Richier unfortunately died in 1959 while preparing for an exhibit at the Musée Picasso in Paris, France.