Aimé Maeght (; 27 April 1906 – 5 September 1981) was a French art dealer, collector,
lithographer
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...
, and publisher. He founded the
Galerie Maeght
The Galerie Maeght () is a gallery of modern art in Paris, France, and Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The gallery was founded in 1936 in Cannes. The Paris gallery was started in 1946 by Aimé Maeght. The artists exhibited are mainly from France an ...
in Paris and
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
Saint-Paul-de-Vence
Saint-Paul-de-Vence (, literally ''Saint-Paul of Vence''; ; ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. One of the oldest medieval towns on the French Riviera, Saint-Pau ...
near
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million
Art dealer
As a youth, Maeght studied art and music, training as a lithographer at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Nîmes.Watkins (2008) His first commercial encounter in the art world came in 1930, when
Pierre Bonnard
Pierre Bonnard (; 3 October 186723 January 1947) was a French painter, illustrator and printmaker, known especially for the stylized decorative qualities of his paintings and his bold use of color. A founding member of the Post-Impressionist gr ...
came to his Cannes shop and had Maeght print a program for a
Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Auguste Chevalier (; 12 September 1888 – 1 January 1972) was a French singer, actor, and entertainer. He is best known for his signature songs, including " Livin' In The Sunlight", " Valentine", " Louise", " Mimi", and " Thank Heaven f ...
concert with a Bonnard lithograph. After the programs were produced, Maeght put the lithograph in the print-shop window. A quick sale encouraged the artist to give him a second picture. Maeght made his Paris debut as a major art dealer on the Rue de Teheran in 1945, after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. On sale were all the paintings done by
Henri Matisse
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...
during the war. He also represented
Alexander Calder
Alexander "Sandy" Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobile (sculpture), mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, hi ...
,
Georges Braque
Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...
,
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...
,
Alberto Giacometti
Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, Drafter, draftsman and Printmaking, printmaker, who was one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. His work was particularly influenced ...
,
Joan Miró
Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , ; ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and Ceramic art, ceramist. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...
, and
Fernand Léger
Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...
. Much of his success as a dealer was attributed to his wife, Marguerite Maeght.
Publisher and benefactor
Aimé Maeght was the founder, editor and publisher of the French
art magazine
An art magazine is a publication that focuses on the topic of art. They can be in printed form, found online or both and can be aimed at different audiences which includes galleries, art buyers, amateur or professional artists and the general publi ...
Derrière le Miroir, created in 1946 and published uninterruptedly until 1982. With his wife, Marguerite, he established the Fondation Maeght, a privately funded museum devoted to 20th-century art, in the South of France. The building was designed by the Catalan architect
Josep Lluís Sert
Josep Lluís Sert i López (; 1 July 190215 March 1983) was a Catalan architect and city planner established in the USA after 1939.
Biography
Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, Sert showed keen interest in the works of his uncle, the painte ...
, houses more than 12,000 pieces of art and attracts "on average, 200,000 visitors ... every year".