An abstract painter of the post-war School of Paris, Germain developed a technique known as Abstraction Lyrique and served as one of the prominent members of it in Paris alongside Mathieu, Bryen, Riopelle, and Lanksoy. Abstraction Lyrique valued personal expression of the artist and made sure not to be limited by geometric standards.

At the age of sixteen, Germain worked with cubist painter Fernand Léger at the l'Académie Moderne. A year later at the Bauhaus, Germain worked with Willem Kandinsky, whose name for many historians is synonymous for abstraction. When France declared war on Germany in 1939, Germain joined the French Army, was captured and held as prisoner of war until 1945. He had his premier exhibition at the Salon de Surindépendents in 1947. Painting with heightened personal expression, he developed the style for which he became internationally known.

By 1948 Germain was becoming associated with the leading avant-garde, exhibiting with Arp, Bryen, Fautrier, Hartung, Mathieu, Picabia, Tapies and Wols in 'Blanc et Noir', at Galerie des Deux Iles, in Paris. In 1949 he held an exhibition with Soulages at Atelier de Maywald; and at the same venue in 1951 with Bauer, Sonia Delaunay, Hartung, Kandinsky, Magnelli, Soulages and da Silva. He went on to hold regular solo shows at galleries Maeght, Pierre, Michel Warren, Kriegel, André Schoeller, Jacques Massol and Dina Vierny. He also participated in many museum shows in France and abroad, notably 'Le Mouvement dans l'art Contemporain', Musée de Lausanne, 1955; 'Carnegie Prize', Pittsburgh USA, 1955; 'Exposition Internationale de l'Art Abstrait', Paris, 1957; 'Ecole de Paris', Mannheim, 1959; 'International Modern Art', Dublin, 1962; 'Ecole de Paris', Cologne, 1962. Recent retrospectives have been held at the Couvent des Cordeliers, France, 1997; and Hanina Fine Arts, London, 2005.

Sources:
various internet sites including www.fada.com