Maurice de Vlaminck

1876 Paris – 1958 Rueil-la-Gadelière

 

The presented painting by Maurice de Vlaminck immediately draws the attention to the red and white flowers of a bouquet. Brightly depicted and powerfully executed in round movements, the blossoms stand out in terms of colour and form. Combined with linear and less colourful structures, they create a dynamic still life that visually distinguishes itself from the simple and plain background.

Maurice de Vlaminck, whose father came from Flanders, grew up in Le Vésinet near Paris and moved to Chatou near Versaille in 1892. Like his parents, he first worked as a musician before he met André Derain who encouraged him to become a painter in 1900. Shortly afterwards, they shared a studio. Of significant influence were the works of Vincent van Gogh which Maurice de Vlaminck discovered in an exhibition in Paris. In 1905, he exhibited at the „Salon d’Automne“ with André Derain, Henri Matisse and other artists, who – due to their use of intensive colours and an emphasis on plain surfaces – were associated with Fauvism. Art dealer Ambroise Vollard eventually bought Maurice de Vlaminck’s complete body of work and dedicated a solo show to him in 1906. In the following years, Maurice de Vlaminck explored Cézanne, Impressionism and – for a short period of time – Cubism before, after a creative break caused by World War I, he focused on Expressionism. His final breakthrough as an artist came with a show at Druet in 1919. In the same year he bought a house in rural Valmondois. Landscapes were his major artistic concern, his subject remaining after his move to the department of Eure-et-Loire.

Presented in numerous international exhibitions, the work of Maurice de Vlaminck was critically acclaimed. In 1955, the artist participated in “documenta”, Kassel. Apart from painting, he wrote more than 20 books.