Jeanne Selmersheim-Desgrange was born into a family in which the women had been artists and costume designers, the men architects and draftsmen. She began in the decorative arts herself then, after her marriage to Selmersheim ended (she retained the name), she met Paul Signac and became his life partner.
Although she had had considerable training already, it was Signac who became her teacher, and and she exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon des Indépendants beginning in 1909.
