René Genis was born on July 26, 1922 in Hué, Annam, French Indonesia (Vietnam). Genis went back with his family to Gironde, Arcachon in Bordeaux, France in 1931. Starting in 1940 he studied for five years at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux which won him a four year scholarship to the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs in Paris with Albert Marquet and Marcel Gromaire. He exhibited at the Salon de la Jeune Peinture and participated in group shows throughout France. He had his first one-man show at Galerie Charpentier in Paris in 1956. A painter, printmaker and illustrator, Genis taught at the College de Pontoise. From that time, Genis exhibited his paintings at the Salon de la Jeune Peinture, and he received the prize in 1960. For forty years, he exhibited regularly at the Salon Comparaisons in the group of Maurice Boitel. He was also a member of the Society of French Painters-Engravers.

Genis is famous with his elegant still-life painting. No matter if the theme is oriental scenery or french countryside, he always keeps a very poetry serenely ambience. With other artists like Guy Bardone, André Brasilier, Bernard Cathelin, and Paul Guiramand, Genis is also one of the important members of the Parisian Neo-Figurative School. His work has been collected by Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris, National Library of Paris, Fine Arts Museum of Lyon, Yamagata Museum of Art etc. René Genis was influenced by the group of poetic realists with Christian Caillard, Jules Cavaillès, Raymond Legueult, Roger Limouse, Roland Oudot, André Planson, etc. The Swiss painter Andry acknowledges being influenced by him.

René Genis died in Paris on February 25, 2004