Born in Warsaw on 10 August 1909, Georges Spiro grew up in Vienna, where he studied decorative architecture at the Kunstgewerbeschule and trained as a cabinetmaker. He later turned to journalism and literature, founding the avant-garde review Das Silberboot (The Silver Boat).

Arrested by the Gestapo following the Anschluss in 1938, Spiro escaped to France and enlisted in the French Army. After his demobilisation, he worked in various trades before settling in Nice in 1942, where he continued to draw and joined the Resistance. The loss of several family members during the war had a lasting influence on his artistic development.

Spiro began exhibiting his paintings in the immediate post-war period. His work, distinguished by precise draughtsmanship, smooth surfaces and carefully constructed perspectives, soon attracted critical attention. In 1948, he received the Prix Drouant-David. His paintings were subsequently exhibited across Europe and in the United States.

Although often associated with Surrealism, Spiro developed a distinctive form of imaginary realism. His compositions combine human figures, architecture, vegetation and abstract forms within meticulously constructed, often impossible landscapes. They reflect affinities with Bosch, Bruegel, Magritte, Tanguy and Dalí, as well as the influence of his architectural training.

A prominent artistic figure on the Côte d’Azur for more than forty years, Spiro was supported by Dor de La Souchère, curator of the Musée Grimaldi in Antibes, and admired by Jean Cocteau, who described his style as “unreal realism.” His paintings are characterised by vivid colour, subtle eroticism and a recurring tension between visual precision and imaginative transformation.