Catalogue Raisonné at the Confluence of East and West

Introduction

André Maire is a French artist whose career, marked by travel and an insatiable curiosity for distant cultures, produced a rich and little-known body of work. Halfway between academic tradition and modernity, his style is distinguished by a synthesis of European and Asian arts, nourished by decades of exploration in Indochina, Africa, and the Mediterranean. This text traces his life, analyzes his style, and explores the legacy of a painter who captured the essence of the worlds he traversed.
 

I. Formation and Influences (1898–1920)
 

1. Youth and learning

Born in Paris in 1898, André Maire grew up in a modest environment but showed a talent for drawing very early on. He entered the École de dessin de la Place des Vosges , where he met Émile Bernard , a former companion of Gauguin and a major figure in Symbolism. Bernard became his mentor and introduced him to a synthetic approach to color and composition.

2. Fine Arts and the Great War

In 1915, he joined the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in Paris , attending the studio of André Devambez. The war interrupted his studies: mobilized in 1918, he was sent to French Indochina (present-day Vietnam), where he taught drawing in Saigon. This first contact with Asia was a revelation.

3. The Discovery of Angkor (1919)

Assigned to monitor Khmer monuments, he explored Angkor , then little known to Western artists. His sketches of the temples, combining architectural rigor and a mystical atmosphere, prefigure his future style.
 

II. Italy, Bernard's Legacy and the Mediterranean Years (1920–1930)
 

1. Marriage and Settling in Venice

Returning to France in 1920, he married Irène , daughter of Émile Bernard, cementing his connection with the post-impressionist avant-garde. The couple moved to Venice in 1922, where Maire opened a gallery. The city, with its canals and changing lights, inspired a series of watercolors in subtle colors.

2. Bernard's Influence and Synthetism

Under the influence of his father-in-law, Maire adopted a synthetic style, simplifying forms without renouncing realism. His Venetian works, such as The Grand Canal (1925), feature flat areas of color outlined in black, reminiscent of Japanese prints.

3. First Travels to North Africa (1928–1930)

Attracted by the exotic, he traveled to Egypt and Tunisia , where he drew desert landscapes and market scenes. These works, often in sepia, reveal his taste for luminous contrasts.
 

III. The Explorer: From Spain to Indochina (1930–1958)
 

1. The Casa de Velázquez and Spain (1932–1933)

A scholarship holder at the prestigious Casa de Velázquez in Madrid, he studied the Spanish masters (Velázquez, Goya) and painted flamenco scenes, where the dancers' gestures are captured with vivacity.

2. Return to Indochina (1948–1958)

Appointed professor at the Hanoi School of Fine Arts, he rediscovered Asia. His watercolors of the Mekong Delta and the Tonkin mountains merge Western techniques with Asian sensibility. He is fascinated by Buddhist rites, which he depicts in refined compositions.

3. Africa (1950–1960)

On an ethnographic mission, he traveled to Mali , Ivory Coast and Senegal . His portraits of Dogons and his fishing scenes in Saint-Louis show an ethnographic attention rare among painters of the time.
 

IV. Style and Techniques: Between Classicism and Modernity
 

1. An Outstanding Designer

Maire excels in charcoal and sepia , with a precise but never rigid line. His sketches of Angkor (1919) or Venice (1925) demonstrate an exceptional mastery of chiaroscuro.

2. Color and Composition

His oils and watercolors use muted palettes (ochres, deep greens), reminiscent of Mediterranean frescoes. In Marché à Bamako (1952), the forms are stylized in the manner of Art Deco , while retaining a narrative vitality.

3. Recurring Themes

• Sacred architecture (Khmer temples, Malian mosques)

• Scenes of daily life (markets, fishermen)

• Ethnic portraits , always respectful and devoid of caricatured exoticism.
   

V. Posterity and Recognition
 

1. Exhibitions and Museums

His works are held at the Guimet Museum (Paris), at the Quai Branly , and in private collections. A retrospective at the La Piscine Museum (Roubaix, 2009) revived interest in his work.

2. The Art Market

His drawings sell for between €500 and €20,000 , depending on the period and technique. An Angkor oil painting fetched €45,000 in 2018.

3. An Artist to Rediscover

André Maire remains less famous than Matisse or Delacroix, however his transcultural approach prefigures the globalized art of today.

Note: We are currently expanding the site with new works. This digitization and documentation process is ongoing. We invite you to return regularly to discover the complete gallery of André Maire's works.