Artist Biography & Facts

Maurice Legrand

Maurice Legrand (1906 - 2004)

1906:
Born July 23, 1906 in Brussels into a wealthy family.

He has two brothers, the eldest, Raymond born in 1904 and Robert born in 1905. Did his classical studies in Brussels with his two brothers. A difference between a teacher and their father will cause them to stop their studies abruptly. The three brothers live comfortably in the family home.?

1921:
From the age of 15 or 16, Maurice draws, with great talent, many elements of the local flora. This talent will open the doors of the Royal Botanical Garden to him in Brussels where he will draw many illustration boards.?

1925:
At the age of 19 he will be part of a new family business working light metals. This small company will become the Ateliers Legrand. But his attraction to the arts meant that he would not remain active in the business for long. He will prefer to draw and paint many subjects including the wild Kempen (East of Belgium). He will not do his military service because he is too small (less than one meter sixty).?

1939:
He will meet Simone Cerfont at the La Lorraine tennis club, which she manages with her mother. She will become his wife in July 1939. She will give him 2 boys.?

1946:
After the war, in 1946, his wife's mother offered the young family a trip to the Côte d'Azur. It was during this trip that Maurice Legrand discovered the light and colors of Provence, during a picnic stop in the small village of Cotignac (Var).?

1947:
It was a real thunderbolt. Everything was sold in Belgium and in 1947 Maurice, his wife and their two children settled in Boulouris (near Saint-Raphaël - Var).?

1948:
New habitat and workshop in Val d'Esquières (Escandiado). From 1948 it is the exploration of all Provence and the villages of Haut Var then the discovery of the Camargue, virgin of all tourism and tourists) as well as small trips to Italy. His palette has completely changed and adapted to new colors and southern light. He will have the chance to meet Matisse and to befriend this painter whom he loved very much for his fierce love of freedom, like him.?

1954:
Construction of a Provençal farmhouse on the edge of the RN 98 still in Val d'Esquières. The Mas du Roudoun. With a beautiful studio and a large showroom which will welcome many admirers and buyers of his works. He will have the opportunity to meet Picasso in his studio in Mougins. He will be very impressed by Picasso's drawing skills.?

1957:
Purchase of two commercial areas in Sainte-Maxime sur Mer (Var) and creation of the large Galerie Bleue, in town.?

1959:
Purchase of a second property in Seine et Marne. He begins to paint this region and the Ile de France. He still does many annual exhibitions in Paris and Brussels.?

1960:
Purchase of a castle near Magny en Vexin, in Val d'Oise.?

1961:
Maurice Legrand is invited to make a major exhibition in Beirut, Lebanon. Television and the Parisian artistic media are beginning to take an interest in his work, but his wife does not appreciate this growing notoriety very much and keeps the media away from her husband.?

1964:
Purchase of a property in Normandy, in Crosville-la-Vieille.

1970:
Purchase of a new large property in Saint-Lucien in Eure et Loir. Maurice will extend his search for new subjects in other departments. He will discover the Vendée, the Brière, the Sologne. The latter will be his new love. Always many exhibitions, in Paris and in the Provinces.?

1973:
He meets Dali and the two painters will appreciate each other very much. It is from Saint-Lucien that he and his wife will make great trips to Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Black Africa. All these countries will offer him many opportunities for new artistic creations.

1990:
Sale of the large and splendid property of Saint-Lucien and return to the Côte d'Azur, in Les Issambres (Var). A workshop and a showroom are created on the ground floor of their new villa. He receives many customers there and always paints with the same enthusiasm.?

2002:
The health of his wife is deteriorating and will die there in 2002. The house / workshop of Issambres is sold and Maurice Legrand will go to live in a small house, on the lands of his son Serge, in Catalonia, in the north of Spain . He paints every day, tirelessly. He will say, after a little over a year spent there, “I will never have time to paint everything I have in mind”.?

2003:
But this, plus the loss of his wife, plunged him, in 2003, into a deep depression, and, unbeknownst to all, he began to burn (very early one morning) very many documents like pochades, drawings and other sketches because he knew he would never have time to put them on canvas again. It was when he saw smoke in the garden that his son Serge managed to save what was still left, unburnt!?

2004:
He will die on the morning of August 14, 2004, peacefully, while having his coffee, in his bed.

He is buried in the beautiful and peaceful little cemetery of Pau (near Rosas) in Spain, next to his wife.

Maurice Legrand, a great master of Provence and the Camargue. An immense talent that will sooner or later be recognized throughout the world.

Source:  Maurice Legrand Website

Submitted by:  Claude Legrand