André Maire (1898 - 1984) — Vietnam, Elephants At The Foot Of A Large Standing Buddha Statue

Vietnam, elephants at the foot of a large standing Buddha statue
Conté chalk on paper, Signed and dated lower right.
65 x 50 cm

Provenance: Family of the artist

André Maire (1898–1984) – Traveling painter, humanist witness to Asia and the world

André Maire was born in Paris in 1898. Recognizing his early artistic talent, his father enrolled him in 1909 at the municipal drawing school on Place des Vosges, where he remained a student until his father's death in 1916. The following year, his mother died. To support himself, the young man worked in a theater set factory. He frequented the Devambez studio and the painter Emile Bernard, who became his mentor and introduced him to various artistic techniques, advising him on his reading and his artistic and personal choices. 
Mobilized at the end of 1917, André Maire completed his military service in Indochina,where he taught drawing. He discovered the site of Angkor, which would profoundly influence his imagination and his work. 
In 1921, after returning from Asia, he left for Italy with Emile Bernard and married his daughter Irène in Venice in 1922. The couple settled there for seven years, running a small gallery where André Maire offered his works for sale. However, they maintained ties with Paris, renting a small studio. The artist developed the sepia technique, which was conducive to large decorative compositions and a strong taste for architecture. 
In 1930, André Maire won the Casa Velázquez Prize and spent two years in Spain, discovering Toledo, Ronda, Salamanca, Gibraltar, and other places.That same year, he bought a house in Burgundy, in Semur-en-Auxois, which became his home base. At the end of the 1930s, he discovered Egypt and then India, but while he was in Ceylon, war broke out, forcing him to return to France, where he was mobilized. After the war, he undertook a trip to Africa along the Niger River, which was interrupted by malaria. 
The year 1947 marked his return to Asia, where he settled for ten years (returning toFrance only in 1951 and 1954). He stayed in Hanoi, Saigon, and Dalat, where he became attached to the highlands and the lively life on the banks of the Mekong. He also traveled to Madagascar in the late 1950s. 
André Maire's travels were long and allowed him to explore not only the landscapes but also the local populations and cultures, forging a humanist vision that permeates all his work. From the1930s onwards, he exhibited in prestigious Parisian galleries such as Charpentier and Georges Petit, as well as at Isy Brachot in Brussels. He spent the last years of his life in Semur-en-Auxois, continuing to paint, nourished by the memories and reveries of his many travels. 
In 2015, the Alexis Pentcheff Gallery, in collaboration with Mrs. Lorédana Harscoët-Maire (his daughter), organized a major retrospective of André Maire's work, presenting more than a hundred pieces.

Discover more works by this artist on the gallery's website: https://www.galeriepentcheff.fr/fr/peintre-andre-maire