Paul Elie Ranson, painter, print-maker and writer was born in Limoges, France in 1861. He enrolled in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts Appliques a’l’lndustrie in 1877. Studied at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs before transferring to Academie Julien from 1886-1891. In 1888 he became one of the founder members of Les Nabis with his fellow founders Paul Serusier, Henri-Gabriel Ibels, Pierre Bonnard and Maurice Denis.
Ranson died of typhoid in 1909 in Paris.