Jean Fautrier (1898–1964) was a French painter, sculptor and printmaker. Born in Paris and raised partly in London, Fautrier initially worked in a dark, representational style, painting landscapes, still lifes and figures. By the 1940s, he had developed a more radical approach, building up surfaces with thick layers of pigment and plaster-like materials to create images that hover between figuration and abstraction. Fautrier’s best-known works are his Otages (Hostages), begun during the German occupation of France. Arrested in 1943 for involvement with the French Resistance, he later took refuge outside Paris, where he reportedly heard Nazi troops executing prisoners nearby. His resulting paintings and prints depict anonymous, distorted heads and fragmented bodies through dense, scarred surfaces. Rather than illustrating violence directly, Fautrier used material, texture and abstraction to evoke physical vulnerability and trauma. Hostages established Fautrier as a major figure in European abstraction.