Maurice Utrillo

1909 to 1914 – Utrillo finds his artistic high point

He found his motifs in the landscape north of Paris and on Montmartre, his preferred location, to which he was drawn back again and again. Utrillo’s views of Paris in particular would make him world famous. His painting, both naïve and poetic and purely self-taught, developed its first qualitative high point in the years 1909 to 1914. The Impressionist painting of his time became a role model for Utrillo, and he was particularly impressed with Alfred Sisley’s light-filled atmospheric painting. In 1909, the Salon d’Automne presented his first works, and in 1913, he had a solo exhibition at Galerie Eugène Blot. However, it was not until 1919 and the early 1920s that he achieved decisive success. 

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Various dealers, including the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, competed for his works. Despite numerous relapses and long stays in hospital (with a suicide attempt in 1924), the artist continued to paint. His style changed: later compositions are more strictly condensed, the palette enriched with luminous colour accents and typical staffages of people. The city veduta and church views which were created on location and later from postcards in the studio, convince with emphatically simple structures. By around 1925, Utrillo was a very well-known artist also in other European countries, in Brussels, Berlin and Hamburg. He later married Lucie Pauwels-Valore, the wealthy widow of Robert Pauwels, a Belgian banker and passionate collector of Utrillo’s works. The pair henceforth lived privately in Angoulême and Vésinet outside Paris.