Alfred Maurer: The First American Modern

A welcome overview of the career of a significant yet often overlooked American painter

Alfred Henry Maurer (1868-1932) was a prolific artist who worked in many of the styles of the early twentieth century: impressionism, postimpressionism, fauvism, and expressionism. This richly illustrated book draws from the single largest public collection of his work and presents the impressive range of his paintings and works on paper throughout his career.

Maurer was one of the first American artists to travel to Paris in the early 1900s to experience the new art movements developing there. He was particularly influenced by Matisse and his bold and dramatic use of color, and became one of the first American artists to embrace and incorporate fauvism in his work. In 1909 Alfred Stieglitz included Maurer in a show at his New York gallery, where his art was exhibited in the company of other American modernists such as Georgia O'Keeffe, Arthur Dove, and Marsden Hartley. Despite his extensive and varied career, Maurer did not achieve the fame or recognition of many of his contemporaries, and an insightful essay by Daphne Anderson Deeds provides valuable background about his artistic development and his lonely and tragic personal life.

Distributed for the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum