The son of a justice who is mayor of Sainte-Mère-Église, Paul Cirou is a so-called Orientalist painters most sensitive of the last century.
After his childhood in Sainte-Mere-Eglise, he studied in high school of Caen, in the School of Fine Arts in Dijon and at the Académie Julian in Paris. It is in the capital that began in 1898 by exhibiting at the Salon des Artistes French portraits, especially those of his father and the Bishop Nordez, and landscapes. He often returns his easel in the swamps and along the hollow roads of the Cotentin. There he painted his finest Impressionist paintings, including the famous Misty Morning at La Fiere.
But in 1907 the disease forced him to flee the capital. He decides to cross the Mediterranean. He remained in Algeria until 1936. It is for him a new life and vocation. Dazzled by the light of North Africa, it becomes Orientalist painter. He traveled tirelessly souks and desert margins. In this long period, it leaves us with a large collection of bright and vibrant color paintings, the best known are Kabyle Wedding procession and bride. The Governor General commissioned his portrait and several paintings. And the state buys many works to museums.
After returning from Paris, he opened with his wife, painter herself, a street workshop Tome Issoire where he trained many students. The capital has not forgotten and exhibitions in France Overseas and elsewhere are successful. National Gobelins commissioned huge tapestries. And the government still buys the water carriers, the flowers at the window, on Lake Geneva, etc.
After the death of his wife, he came to spend his last days with his family in Sainte-Mère-Église where he wants to paint on the walls of the hall, the frescoes depicting the terrible days of June 1944. But this project not born. Paul Cirou disappears in 1951 before starting this work.
He rests in the cemetery of his native town, in the family vault (Aigremont Family).