Paul Sérusier was born in 1864 in Paris into a well-to-do middle-class family. His father was a successful businessman in the perfume industry, who gave his son a good education. In 1875 Paul entered the Condorcet Lycée, where he studied classical philosophy, Greek and Latin, and the sciences. He graduated from the Lycée in 1883 with two baccaulaureats – in philosophy and in the sciences.
The painter died in 1927 in Morlaix.