George Maurice Cloud 1909-1973
George Maurice Cloud, born in La Baule-Escoublac, is a French artist painter, architect, interior designer, draftsman and illustrator. He is also known for his drawings, gouaches, collages and acrylics paintings. In his early teens, he attends Les Beaux-Arts Nantes Saint Nazaire. In 1928 Maurice Cloud moves to Paris to study a l’ Ecole des Beaux-Arts, at the same time, he takes a part-time job as a draftsman at the Atelier d’Architecture of Pierre and Charles Edouard Jeanneret, which will be the most prestigious hub of creation in the early stage of modern architectural movement headed by no one else than Le Corbusier. As draftsman he gets the chance and honor to work on the famous “Savoye house,” the most remarkable of this period, which had considerable influence in the history of architecture in the world. the house still stand at Roissy, 30 miles West of Paris.
His two years working at Le Corbusier/Jeanneret will have a profound impact not only in his immediate work, but in his whole life. Le Corbusier advises him to join the Puteaux Group of Jacques Villon and Friends. One of its members, Andre Lhote, a well known French Cubist artist, teacher, writer and most of all a very influential in the art critics world of the Parisian’s Circles. There he will cross path with Frantisek Kupka, and Fernand Leger, which will leave a deep impression on the young man. His inventiveness, becomes his way of opening doors between these different paths of abstractions and figurations, concepts and expressions. It allows him to show his creative and outstanding artistic capacities.
By 1936-1937, he is awarded First Prize by the Societe Centrale des Architectes, which today is known as Academie d’Architecture, for his talented design work. He becomes well known and is commissioned to paint frescoes for Private Homes as well as Commercial Buildings, including the Casino and the famous Hotel de l’Hermitage in La Baule. He decorates dining rooms on Ocean Liners such as: SS Ile de France, SS Le Liberté, SS De Grasse, SS Normandie and SS France. He went on creating billboards for movie theaters in Paris, Nantes, St Nazaire and La Baule.
After serving in WW2, he returns to his native La Baule to help the family business. Although away from Paris, once a month he steps in the train and succeeds in remaining involved in the Parisian World. He becomes a member of the Societé des Artistes Independants, then in the Sur-Independants, this will entail his participation in the movement’s exhibitions and group shows, where he exhibits paintings and drawings in every Salon in Paris. As such, he receives much attention from the press. In 1949, Breteau Gallery, gave him a solo show that was well received in the Parisian Art World. And again 1950, 1953, with “le groupe du Vert-Bois”. 1955 at Gallery Craven, he will be one of the “Six Peintres Actual ” exhibit. That same year 1955, at the Harmonies Gallery in St Nazaire, he exhibits a show influenced by Matisse on “Papiers Decoupés.” 1962, the French Government commissioned him to create a 200 foot long by 12 foot high mosaic mural for a marketplace in Paris suburb, Viry Chatillon. The mural is still partially in existence.
Bicycle Race by G. Maurice Cloud 1946
Influenced by Le Corbusier, Picasso, Leger, Matisse, Pollock and Kandinsky, and yet Maurice Cloud finds and cultivates his own explosive look that uses an energetic plot. He never stops looking for new topics. He does not conceive of his existence without movements or colors. The adventure of Art is sometimes a question of practice where freedom forges meanings. He believes on what Kandinsky made famous that “abstract colors and forms can be used to express the inner life of the artist.” On his own he pursues his artistic interests with passion from his early age throughout his life and until his accidental death in 1973. The expressive power that springs from his works shows the most eminent gifts of George Maurice Cloud: Strength and Passion.
Many of his works hang on the most prestigious walls sometime next to his mentors, Leger, Picasso. His works have been purchase by Private Collectors, High-End Real Estates, Rock Stars, Interior Designers. From France, Moscow, Japan, Spain, England and the United States.
Expositions:
1966, Burton Jay Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca. featured his works in the United States with a twenty-years retrospective.
1996-2007, Papillon Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca.
2008-2011, Jeffrey Winter Gallery, Beverly Hills, Ca.
2008, Anderson Gallery, on Brighton way in Beverly Hills, Ca.
Today, Maurice Cloud’s works is represented by Richard Norton Gallery in Chicago, where he had a successions of shows:
- Summer Selections by George Maurice Cloud, August 8-August 24, 2018
- Georges Maurice Cloud: Geometric Abstractions, March 17-April 21, 2017
- Georges Maurice Cloud: Works on Paper, March 16-May 1, 2015
- George Maurice Cloud, Art & Architecture, 1920s-1950s, November 9-December 3, 2012