Born in Grans, France, Germaine Richier studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Montpellier before moving to Paris in 1926. She apprenticed under the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, an experience that deeply influenced her technical approach to bronze casting and her focus on the human figure.

Richier is best recognized for her post-war sculptures, which frequently feature eroded, textured surfaces and hybrid forms that evoke themes of existential anxiety and nature. Her work often blurs the boundaries between the organic and the inorganic, utilizing a distinct, rough-hewn aesthetic that departed from the smooth classicism of her predecessors.

Her legacy continues to be examined in major international surveys, including recent institutional exhibitions that contextualize her modernist contributions alongside contemporary explorations of identity and form.