André Hambourg was born in Paris on May 5, 1909. Entering the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs in 1926, he studied sculpture under Paul Niclausse for four years. The young artist then entered the studio of Lucien Simon at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. While in the middle of his academic studies, Hambourg had his debut solo exhibition at the Galerie Taureau in Paris in 1928. He was only 19 years old at the time. Because of the early recognition of his talent, Hambourg became active in the important Paris salons in the first stages of his developing career. In 1931, he was made a member of the Salon de l’Art Français Indépendant and the Salon de l’Oeuvre Unique.

André Hamburg was demobilized in Casablanca in 1940, but then civilian by the regiment of engineers in 1943, then called by Raoul Salan and assigned to the 2nd Bureau where he became editor, draftsman, reporter of the newspaper "Combattant 1943" then "Combattant 1944 He was named in December 1944 war correspondent accredited to the US HQ (SHAPE), his military experience (being in the first to have reached the nest He wrote two books in 1947: "Berchtesgaden party" and "D'Alger à Berchtesgaden". In an interview he wrote an account of his experience in "La kermesse aux étoiles" in 1953 and 1954, of which he was the organizer, of cheap sales of works by renowned artists in front of the Kermesse public for 3 days and 3 nights. He wrote in the newspaper "Cols bleus" of the Navy souvenirs ("4 July 1943", whose oil on paper will be offered by President Mitterrand to President Reagan) or travel.  The entire work of the artist will be the subject of numerous books, publications, articles, interviews of José Arthur, Michel Law, Jacques Chancel and Micheline Sandrel.  In 1970 five hundred of his works formed a prestigious retrospective at the Maison de Culture in Bourges. Other notable shows include Drawings of Venice at Galerie Varine-Gincourt in Paris (1979), Bonjour New York at Wally Findlay Galleries in New York (1985), The Presence of André Hambourg at the Salon du Dessin (1986), André Hambourg in the Ivory Coast at Galerie Guigne in Paris (1987), and finally André Hambourg in Venice at Galerie Apesteguyin Deauville (1989).  Having past experience creating mural decorations for ships, Hambourg was asked to complete a 195 square foot mural, for the Audience Chamber of the new European Court of Justice in Luxembourg in 1972. One year later, this panoramic work was unveiled at an opening ceremony in the Hotel de Ville, attended by the President of Luxembourg, Robert Lecourt, as well as the Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg.

On December 4, 1999 André Hambourg died in Paris after a long and prosperous career. Today his works can be found in the collections of museums such as the Musée National d'Art Moderne, the Musée national de la Marine, and the Musée des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie.