Elisee Maclet Street Of Pre-saint-gervais

Elisée Maclet (1881 - 1961) Superb urban landscape showing excellent brushstrokes and a technique mastered by the hand of Elisée Maclet. This painting represents the Rue du Pré-Saint-Gervais in Paris, creating a serene scene in a bustling city. This painting is documented in the artist's official catalogue raisonné. Provenance: Versailles, Blache sale, June 11, 1975, lot 128. Literature: Jean Cottel, *Élisée Maclet, La Vie et l'Oeuvre, Catalogue Raisonné de l'oeuvre*, ABC, 1982, n°202 page 184. In 1906, he left Picardy for the first time to go to Paris and especially Montmartre. He worked as a decorator at the Moulin Rouge. He was the first to paint Montmartre using techniques other than Impressionism, inventing a style that would inspire other painters, marked by simplicity and the appearance of colors in an expressionist manner. At the beginning, he painted watercolors. Then, he moved on to the brush before adopting the knife around 1909. During this period, he remained in a limited color palette: a blue-gray, green and pink. He worked with his first dealer. After 1916, he developed color and the finesse of forms. This period is considered to be the one where Maclet reached his peak. He then had many clients and exhibited in several Parisian galleries. His friends included Utrillo, Max Jacob, Pablo Picasso, Guillaume Apollinaire... In 1918, he discovered the sea and went to paint in Normandy, then in the South of France. Maclet's paintings are then marked by the density and luminosity of the enamel. His works express joy, and he remained in the south of France from 1924 to 1928. At the end of 1928, he was in Corsica. Then, in 1929-1930, he was in Brittany, where his painting lost the colorful expression that inspired him in the South. After 1935, he painted Paris again. The works of this period are pleasant, with fresh and poetic colors. During the Second World War, in occupied Paris, Maclet symbolically painted the capital under the snow. Afterwards, he exhibited in various Parisian galleries. His popularity continued to rise. He died in Paris on August 23, 1962. His posthumous recognition was on a par with his talent.