Maurice Retif (1887 - 1966). The Descent Of A Staircase, Circa 1920. Oil On Canvas.

Maurice RETIF
(Sancoins 1887 - En Calcat 1966)
The Descent of a Staircase, circa 1920

Oil on canvas
Signed lower right
65 × 50 cm


Maurice Rétif, originally from Nevers, quickly settled in Paris, where he trained in the studios of Marcel Berronneau and then Jean Paul Laurens. From 1911, he exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants, then the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Tuileries, producing paintings full of modernity and character. In 1920, the French State purchased one of his canvases, now in the collection of the Musée de Nevers. Also active in publishing, he contributed to numerous books and published a moving account of his time at the front during the First World War. From the 1930s onwards, under the influence of his friend Maurice Denis, Maurice Rétif settled at the Benedictine Abbey of En Calcat, where he became a master glassmaker under the name Brother Luc.

Independent and free-spirited, Maurice Rétif traveled extensively, from Brittany to North Africa, disregarding prevailing artistic movements. The artist viewed the world with vigor and spontaneity. Our highly mysterious painting depicts a descent into a staircase, as intimate as it is enigmatic.

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