Maurice Estève was born in the French town of Culan (Département Cher) on 2nd May 1904.
Read MoreIn 1913 he moved to Paris with his parents, where he soon began his education as an artist. During his visits to the Louvre in the 1920s, Estève was particularly impressed by the painters Jean Fouquet and Paolo Uccello. Among the modern artists, Paul Cézanne had the greatest influence on Estève.
Maurice Estève was largely self-educated, having only attended the free studio of the Colarossi academy in 1924, where he tried to constructively implement of his motifs according to the model of Georges Braques and Fernand Légers, thus creating a kind of Cubist Fauvism.
Estève's extensive work was not limited to the genre of painting. He was also active in collage, textile design and murals. Estèves avoided the extrovert circles of Avant-garde but still belonged to the core of the artists who brought about the breakthrough of 'École de Paris' after 1945.
Maurice Estève took part in the Venice Biennale in 1954. His oeuvre, just like the works of his art colleagues Riopelle and Bazaine, established a new pictorial language: Lyrical abstractions with the aim of depicting form and color with an almost poetic attitude. His works have established themselves in many well-known museums and collections around the world.
Maurice Estève died on 29th June 2001 at the age of 97 in his home town of Culan.
