Élisée Maclet
Piccardia, Francia, 1881 - Parigi, 1962
Born in a small village in Picardy, he was noticed by Puvis de Chavannes, who advised his father in vain to start him on his artistic career. Instinctively gifted, the perception and natural translation of things through the filter of his great sensitivity did not exclude research toward constant improvement of technique in a self-taught manner. During his youth in the small village of his birth he could only afford watercolor, and through endless practice he acquired an astonishing skill.
In 1906, tired of living in the provinces, he moved to Paris, to the Montmartre area where, before him, other artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, Cézanne and Renoir had found inspiration for their paintings. The early days are hard and he is forced to support himself with odd jobs, then his watercolors begin to appeal and sales allow him to make a decent living. At first he lives at the Hotel Fleuri on the rue de Chartres, then at the Hotel du Poirier. For Maclet, too, the best subjects to portray are the places he frequents every day: rue Lepic, le Moulin de la Galette, le Sacre Coeur, rue Pigalle, etc.; we are in the midst of the "Belle Epoque."
Writers Colette, Francis Carco, Max Jacob, an American merchant and other personalities take an interest in him. Carco hosted him for a time at his villa in Dieppe, Normandy where Maclet had the opportunity to paint subjects other than his usual ones.
In 1920, Baron Von Frey, a collector and patron, offers him a contract in which the artist agrees to execute forty canvases a year for him and gives him an allowance to support himself during an extended stay in the Midi. Maclet traveled across France, from north to south, where he painted marinas, harbors, fishermen.
From about 1930 art dealers and collectors bought his works and commissioned others, in particular, views of Montmartre. The Dresden Museum buys one of his works, and the famous art critic Julien Elias, curator of the Berlin Museum, writes about him. His paintings are hung alongside those of Van Gogh, Dufy, Vlamnick, and Picasso.
Unfortunately, the good times for Maclet are short-lived; a severe economic crisis hits France, affecting all sectors, leaving artists with no more buyers; for the painter it is a severe blow. Reduced almost to poverty, he begins to drink; even his psychological health begins to show negative signs, so much so that he is admitted to a nursing home.
Museums:
Brema, Germany, Graphisches Kabinett
Dieppe
Geneva, Petit Palais
Bibliography:
Elisée Maclet (1881-1962) La vie et l’oeuvre, Abc Collection, 1982.
© Élisée Maclet, by SIAE 2023
In 1906, tired of living in the provinces, he moved to Paris, to the Montmartre area where, before him, other artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, Cézanne and Renoir had found inspiration for their paintings. The early days are hard and he is forced to support himself with odd jobs, then his watercolors begin to appeal and sales allow him to make a decent living. At first he lives at the Hotel Fleuri on the rue de Chartres, then at the Hotel du Poirier. For Maclet, too, the best subjects to portray are the places he frequents every day: rue Lepic, le Moulin de la Galette, le Sacre Coeur, rue Pigalle, etc.; we are in the midst of the "Belle Epoque."
Writers Colette, Francis Carco, Max Jacob, an American merchant and other personalities take an interest in him. Carco hosted him for a time at his villa in Dieppe, Normandy where Maclet had the opportunity to paint subjects other than his usual ones.
In 1920, Baron Von Frey, a collector and patron, offers him a contract in which the artist agrees to execute forty canvases a year for him and gives him an allowance to support himself during an extended stay in the Midi. Maclet traveled across France, from north to south, where he painted marinas, harbors, fishermen.
From about 1930 art dealers and collectors bought his works and commissioned others, in particular, views of Montmartre. The Dresden Museum buys one of his works, and the famous art critic Julien Elias, curator of the Berlin Museum, writes about him. His paintings are hung alongside those of Van Gogh, Dufy, Vlamnick, and Picasso.
Unfortunately, the good times for Maclet are short-lived; a severe economic crisis hits France, affecting all sectors, leaving artists with no more buyers; for the painter it is a severe blow. Reduced almost to poverty, he begins to drink; even his psychological health begins to show negative signs, so much so that he is admitted to a nursing home.
Museums:
Brema, Germany, Graphisches Kabinett
Dieppe
Geneva, Petit Palais
Bibliography:
Elisée Maclet (1881-1962) La vie et l’oeuvre, Abc Collection, 1982.
© Élisée Maclet, by SIAE 2023
