Élisée Maclet

 (French, 1881-1962)

Emile Élisée Maclet was born in 1881 in Lyons-en Santerre in Picardy. The son of a gardener and local church sexton, Maclet worked for his father during the week and often spent Sunday afternoons painting with the parish priest, Father Delval. At the age of twelve, Maclet caught the attention of artist Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, who was so impressed that he invited Maclet to study with him in Montmartre. Maclet eventually settled in the Montmartre district in 1906. He supported himself with odd jobs ranging from mundane to creative—washing dishes, varnishing beds, decorating floats for the Moulin Rouge, and painting dolls which would eventually be shown at Salon de Humoristes. Throughout these various odd jobs, Maclet always found time to paint the cityscapes and landscapes around him. He developed a style of bright colors, simplified form, skewed perspective and thick impasto brushwork.

As Maclet gained notoriety, French writers Max Jacob, Sidonie Gabrielle Colette, and Francis Carco wrote about his art, and after World War I he found true success. At Carco’s encouragement, Maclet moved to Dieppe to paint seascapes in his primitive, naive style. He returned to Montmartre in 1919, and the following year the art dealer Dosbourg made a substantial purchase, providing Maclet with the income needed to focus exclusively on painting. In 1923, Maclet earned the patronage of wealthy Austrian manufacturer Baron von Fray, who requested that he move to the south of France in order to capture the brilliant light, intense colors and charm of the Mediterranean. Maclet lived in Arles until 1928, painting in a style that was often reminiscent of Matisse. Von Frey retained ownership of all of Maclet’s work produced during this period, keeping some for himself and sending most to wealthy collectors in America.

In 1928, Maclet moved to Corsica, and then to Brittany, but in 1933 he succumbed to mental illness and was admitted for an extended hospital stay. Maclet was well enough to move back to Paris in 1935, and a decade later presented a large exhibit titled “Around the Moulin.” In 1957 a Parisian gallery organized a retrospective of his work, cementing Maclet’s status as a master painter.