American, 1868-1932

A bold modernist painter known for his dazzling use of color, Maurer began to experiment with the revolutionary ideas of the European modernists after having first trained and worked in a realist manner. The New York-born artist lived in Paris for many years, where he moved in the circle of Gertrude and Leo Stein and became familiar with the work of Picasso, Matisse, Braque, and others. He eventually incorporated his knowledge of the European avant-garde into a personal and idiosyncratic means of expression.
Throughout his career, Maurer worked in series, concentrating intensely for given periods of time on specific subject matter as a means to explore progressive ideas about color, space, and abstraction. He painted landscapes, studio interiors, nudes, still lifes (including a series of flowers in vases), and unusual portraits, although it could be argued that design and composition were his true subjects. While he was fluent in a variety of modernist styles, Maurer typically incorporated flat space, elements of abstraction, brilliant color, and rhythmic, expressive lines into his work.

COLLECTIONS:
Carnegie Museum of Art
Chicago Art Institute
Whitney Museum of American Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Brooklyn Museum
National Museum of American Art of the Smithsonian Institution
Reynolda House Museum in North Carolina
Memorial Hall Museum in Philadelphia, PA
Phillips Collection
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas
Barnes Foundation