In the Spotlight : Henry Moret (1856-1913) & Maxime Maufra (1861-1918)

STOPPENBACH & DELESTRE GALLERY IS PLEASED TO CONTINUE ITS ARTIST-CENTRIC VIEWINGS ROOMS IN THE SPOTLIGHT SERIES WHERE WE DELVE DEEPLY INTO ONE ARTIST'S PRACTICE.

AIMING TO SHOW A FULLER PICTURE OF AN ARTIST'S CAREER, THESE VIEWING ROOMS FEATURE ARCHIVE PHOTOGRAPHY, ARTWORKS IMAGES, QUOTES, AND TEXT REFERENCES COVERING ONE ARTIST'S CAREER.

TODAY, WE ARE DELIGHTED TO PRESENT AN ONLINE VIEWING ROOM DEDICATED TO THE PRACTICE OF TWO ARTISTS, HENRY MORET, AND MAXIME MAUFRA, WHO WERE INVOLVED IN THE PONT-AVEN SCHOOL, AND WERE BOTH INSPIRED BY THE UNIQUE CHARACTER OF THE BRITTANY REGION.

At the fin de siècle, the small town of Pont-Aven in the south of Brittany attracted numerous artists from Paris who were intrigued by the beauty of the land and the rural life of the Breton peasants. Of the group, which included Emile Bernard, Paul Sérusier, Charles Filligier, Henry Moret, and Maxime Maufra, Paul Gauguin, emerged as the conceptual leader, advocating an abstract style known as Synthetism. Though perhaps best known for their paintings, the artists at Pont-Aven also actively experimented with printmaking, creating woodcuts, and etching that used the 'primitive' way of life in Brittany as a point of departure for artistic exploration.

INITIALLY INFLUENCED BY PAUL GAUGUIN - WHO HE MET IN 1888 - MORET WENT ON TO DEVELOP A SINGULAR STYLE; DISTINCTIVELY COMBINING RHYTHMIC STROKES OF NATURALISTIC COLOUR EVOCATIVE OF THE IMPRESSIONISTS WITH THE DYNAMIC SPATIAL COMPOSITION FAVOURED BY THE SYNTHETIC STYLE.

As time went by, Moret developed a more impressionistic style, furthering a more naturalistic approach to landscapes.

FASCINATED BY THE SEA, MORET USED DEEP COLORS AND VIGOROUS BRUSHSTROKES TO CAPTURE ITS VIOLENCE AND POWER, MATCHED AGAINST THE UNYIELDING FORCE OF GRANITE OUTCROPS.

As a member of the Pont-Aven School, Maufra embraced sensitive depiction, characterised by the use of flat forms denoted by energetic outlines. Maufra often focused on marine subjects such as the coastal landscape, ships and ports. Contrary to many artists working at the time Maufra did not use pure colour or symbolic forms, but remained attached to the use of short, delicate brushstrokes inherited from Impressionism. Maufra was preoccupied with attaining both reality and intensity in composition, continually oscillating between a realistic and a symbolic approach to landscapes painting. This dichotomy is illustrated in his masterpiece Vue du Port de Pont-Aven, executed in 1893.

Maufra had his first solo exhibition in Paris in 1894, at Le Barc de Boutteville, for which Gauguin designed the poster. He subsequently exhibited with Durand-Ruel, who remained his dealer throughout his career.

On his return to Paris in 1893, he was the first painter to take up residence in the well-known Bateau-Lavoir in Paris, where later Cubist artists including Pablo Picasso would take up residence.

While Maufra retained the influence of Synthetic techniques - particularly an interest in depicting volume through balancing of line and colour - from 1894 onwards, the artist along with Henry Moret, would share a preference for light and clarity, embarking on a more naturalistic approach to landscape, eventually paving the way for more expressionist compositions.

This sea, sometimes furious, rushing in enormous waves, and giving the appearance of a snowstorm, sometimes calm and soft, united like a sheet of oil, represented to me the rustle of this world, and especially the life of this century which could be called the century of contrasts. Art, in short, the divine source of all earthly delight and ecstasy (Maxime Maufra)

From the beginning of the early 1890s, Maxime Maufra encouraged Moret to exhibit his paintings in Paris. Both artists exhibited their works together in an exhibition organized by the Barc de Boutterville. Paul Durand-Ruel first saw Maufra and Moret’s pictures in the exhibition organized by the Barc de Boutteville in his gallery, rue le Peletier, in January 1894.
 
Maufra praised by Renoir, and Puvis de Chavanne started a long collaboration with Durand-Ruel which lasted for nearly twenty-four years. The famous gallerist acquired more than 900 works by Maufra and organized numerous exhibitions in his gallery in New York and Paris and helped expand its exposure internationally.
The correspondence between Maufra et Durand-Ruel-- saved in the Durand-Ruel archives-- represents an essential resource for understanding his technique and artistic practice. These letters also help to follow Maufra’s different trips in France, Brittany, and Normandy and Scotland where the artist returned in 1895. 

The exchanges between the Durand-Ruel and Henry Moret started in October 1895 until the end of 1912. These letters helped to locate the artist during his different trips. By the time of their collaboration, the members of the group of Pont-Aven scattered, and only Moret and a few such as Maufra, Seguin and O’Conor remained closely attached to the region.
From 1896 to 1898, the artist’s slowly evolved towards a more impressionist approach, possibly under the influence of Durand-Ruel.
Moret had thirteen solo exhibitions with Durand-Ruel, and his collaboration with the gallerist helped expand his exposure in France, Europe, and the United States.

Henry Moret 

Jean-Yves Rolland & Marie-Bénedicte Baranger

2002

Gauguin et l'école de Pont-Aven

André Cariou

2015

Maxime Maufra

Les années de Pont-Aven et du Pouldu

André Cariou

1996