Born in Marseille, Papart drew continuously from an early age and despite his mother’s desperate efforts to convince him that becoming a chicken farmer would be a far more rewarding vocation than being an artist he went to Paris in 1935 and attended the École du Louvre. The following year he was already exhibiting at the Salon des Indépendants and would later also exhibit at the Salon de Mai and Salon des Comparaisons. During the war he returned to Marseille and studied at the Auzias Academy whilst also fighting with the French Resistance and eventually helping to liberate the town. He began to become immersed in the artistic community and associated with Tal-Coat, Masson and Calmettes. In 1946 he held his first solo exhibition at Galerie Sébire in Marseille which was owned by André Mauric.