Maurice I : "what Am I Doing Here ?" Framed

Maurice (XXth) I: “What am I doing here? », mixed technique on paper 50 X 65 cm under passe-partout 71 X 57 cm, mounted by spinners in an old mahogany veneered frame a little uneven 81 X 67 cm. We had the works mounted in identical mats so that we could swap them on request. Peripheral lacks and scuffs. Circa 1970. Gathered around what seems to be a "Beach Bar", countless naked women and a few men, those with brown skin being erect unlike the one with white skin (perhaps a self-portrait) who seems floating above the bodies, accompanied by those strange fish that seem to recur in his work, one of them humanized with a scarlet mouth. Ooh La La ! As a friend would say, this one was not alone in his head! When we saw this lot on one of the Southern unboxings, it was split in two and we bought nine while a London gallery stole four from us! Well, it was almost without seeing them and you had to be a little crazy to acquire them, whereas the paper, baked in oil, was super brittle and with peripheral gaps, but the little that we had seen was motivating! At the border between surrealism and Art-Brut, he would not have been disavowed either by André Breton or by Dubuffet. I found nothing on the Artist, but it is possible that he was interned and that these paintings took part in his therapy… Information welcome! In agreement with the restorer, we had them neutralized, filled in the gaps and lined with Japanese paper in order to be able to handle them, but we chose not to repaint them. Do not hesitate to ask us for photos or additional information by email or telephone. Other photos and many other objects in our shops in Pau and Biarritz and on our website: galerielhoste.com.