Aimé Maeght

Aimé Maeght (27 April 1906 – 5 September 1981) was a French art dealer, collector, lithographer, and publisher. He founded the Galerie Maeght in Paris[1] and Barcelona, and the Fondation Maeght[2] in Saint-Paul-de-Vence near Nice (southern France). Though the original Flemish pronunciation is pronounced "makt," the French pronunciation of surname Maeght sounds more similar to mahg.[3][4]

Aimé Maeght
Born	27 April 27, 1906 Hazebrouck, France
Died	5 September 1981 Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
Nationality	French
Occupation	Art collector, publisher
Spouse(s)	Marguerite Maeght

Art dealer

As a youth, Maeght studied art and music, training as a lithographer at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Nîmes.[5] His first commercial encounter in the art world came in 1930, when Pierre Bonnard came to his Cannes shop and had Maeght print a program for a Maurice Chevalier 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. On sale were all the paintings done by Henri Matisse during the war.[6] He also represented Alexander Calder, Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, Alberto Giacometti, Joan Miró, and Fernand Léger.[2] Much of his success as a dealer was attributed to his wife, Marguerite Maeght.[6]

Publisher and benefactor

See also: Fondation Maeght

Aimé Maeght was the founder, editor and publisher of the French art magazine Derrière le Miroir, created in 1946 and published uninterruptedly until 1982.[7] With his wife, Marguerite, he established the Fondation Maeght, a privately funded museum devoted to 20th century art, in the South of France.[2] The building was designed by the Catalan architect Josep Lluís Sert, houses more than 12,000 pieces of art and attracts "on average, 200,000 visitors ... every year".[2]

References

1. Jackie Wullschlager, Black, in full colour, Financial Times, 15 September 2006.
2. "The future of the Maeght Foundation: Sunshine and colour", The Economist, London, 26 Jul 2014, retrieved 12 Feb 2016
3. The original Flemish surname is pronounced like "makt").
4. Lohse, Marianne (23 May 2012), "Maeght: A Family Affair", France Today, Bath, United Kingdom, retrieved 12 Feb 2016CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
5. Watkins (2008)
6. Fraser, C. Gerald (7 Sep 1981). "Aimé Maeght Dies; Art Dealer Was 75". The New York Times.
7. Maeght, Adrien (1983). Derrière le miroir : 1946-1982. Paris: Maeght Éditeur. p. 120.

Further reading

Watkins, Nicholas (2008). Behind the Mirror: Aimé Maeght and His Artists. London: Royal Academy of Arts. ISBN 978-1905711383.