His parents were both decorators. At the age of 17, Jouve enrolled at the prestigious École Boulle in Paris where he received theoretical training in art history in addition to his technical studies as a sculptor. After graduating in 1930, he embarked on his first artistic career as a theater set designer. During the Second World War, Jouve was taken prisoner by the Germans and interned in a German camp. After several attempts, he escaped from the camp and took refuge with his parents-in-law in Dieulefit, a pottery village in the Drôme. In 1944, Jouve and his family returned to Paris. He opens his workshop in Paris and is invited by Jacques Adnet to participate in the exhibition "La Céramique Contemporaine" of the Compagnie des Arts Français. He then participated each year in numerous "Salons" in France and internationally such as the "Salon des artistes décorateurs" in Paris, the French Association of Artistic Action in Rio de Janeiro, Vienna, Toronto, Rome, Milan and Cairo.