Alfred Henry Maurer Sold at Auction Prices

Figure painter, Porträtmaler, Painter, Landscape painter, Still life painter, b. 1868 - d. 1932

(born 1868 New York City; died 1932 New York City) American painter. Alfred Henry Maurer is known as one of the first American artists to be heavily influenced by European Modernism. In 1884 he attended the National Academy of Design in New York. His painting style early in his career was traditional, influenced by such American artists as John Singer Sargent and James Whistler. From 1897-1914 he lived in Paris, studying at the Academie Julian. He befriended other artist expatriates there, including Arthur Dove and Gertrude and Leo Stein. It was with the Steins that he met Henri Matisse and was introduced to Fauvism. From 1905 on he began to experiment with avant-garde aesthetics and his works gained the attention of art dealers back in the United States. In 1909 his work was exhibited at Alfred Steiglitz’s Gallery 291 and in 1913 his work was included in the New York Armory Show. Maurer returned to New York with the outbreak of World War I in 1914, however he continued to develop his style, and in the 1920s he experimented with Cubism and Abstractionism which was still quite unpopular and controversial in America. Despite receiving considerable success during his career, and being able to sell all of his work to art dealer Ernest Weyhe in 1924 for much needed profit, Maurer commited suicide in 1932.