He left high school when he was 17, to join the studio of theater designer Eugène Ronsin. He learned painting besides his uncle, Charles Darmour, who took care of him since he was 9. In 1906, he participated at the XXI Salon of Independents, and started to frequent artists in search of a new art, such as Fernand Léger. Three years later, he met Sonia Stern, who became his wife some years later. Together, they form one of the most famous couples in the history of art. They are the main founders of the Orphist movement, a branch of Cubism and an important avant-garde movement of the beginning of the Twentieth century.