French painter, illustrator, and designer, born at Nantes. His family had connections with that of the writer Jules Verne, whose stories made a great impression on Roy as a boy and may have had some influence on the direction that his art took in later life. After working in an architect's office, where he learned precise draughtsmanship, he moved to Paris in 1904 and studied at the École des *Beaux-Arts, the *Académie Julian, and the École des Arts Décoratifs. His early work was *Neo-Impressionist and in 1908 he came into the circle of the *Fauves, but in about 1920 he discovered the work of *de Chirico and began moving towards the *Surrealist style with which he is most closely associated. He took part in the first Surrealist group exhibition—at the Galerie Pierre in Paris in 1925—and in several of their other group shows.