A painter, illustrator, and sculptor, Jean‑Paul Jérôme studied under Stanley Cosgrove at the École des beaux‑arts de Montréal until 1951. In 1955, he co‑signed the Manifeste des Plasticiens and became a founding member of the movement. After a brief period in Paris, from 1956 to 1958, where he kept company with Hans Hartung, Alberto Giacometti, Martin Barré, Jean Dewasne, and Victor Vasarely, among others, he returned to Canada and accepted a teaching position in studio arts at the very institution that had trained him, eventually leaving his post in 1972 to focus full‑time on his art. Jérôme was elected a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1978.