Maurice DE MEYER
Belgian, 1911-1999
Notre Dame, Paris
Oil on canvas
23 ½ by 31 inches framed
Maurice de Meyer was born in Brussels in 1911 into an artistic family. As a teenager, and as a result of his artistic talents, he enrolled at the Academy of Brussels to study painting. In addition to his time at the academy he was also tutored privately by two of the greatest Belgian painters of the day, Alfred Bastien and, more importantly, Henri Logelain.
It is clear from his subsequent work that it was Logelain who was to provide the greatest influence, particularly in de Meyer’s choice of a subdued palette and his predilection for painting town scenes. He counted the painters Jean Laudy, Maurice Wagemans and Pierre Paulus amongst his closest friends which is somewhat surprising when one considers that they were all much older and more celebrated painters than de Meyer, clearly an indication of his precocious talents.
By the mid 1930’s Maurice de Meyer was painting almost exclusively Parisian street scenes handled in an Impressionist manner with a marvelous joie de vie. Although some other subjects exist, including still-lifes and landscapes, it is these views of Paris that are considered his finest work. In this example, de Meyer has chosen a classic Parisian view of the cathedral of Notre Dame. Maurice de Meyer abandoned this type of painting in 1985 when, for the remainder of his life, he concentrated on beach scenes, owing much to the influence of Eugene Boudin. After a long and successful career Maurice de Meyer died in Brussels in 1999.
$3,400