Portrait of a girl

Maurice Blond [1899, Łódź, Poland - 1974, Clamart, France] was a Polish-Jewish painter born in Łódź. 

His artistic talent was discovered early when Blond was only twelve years old, after one of his watercolor paintings was noticed and then displayed at the Kiev Museum in 1911. Despite the successful debut he abandoned his artistic interests to study natural science and mathematics at the University of Warsaw in 1922. At the same time, he taught mathematics in order to repair his finances. Nevertheless, he soon returned to painting, and in 1923 he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw to resign after a couple of months and go to Berlin. There he met two young painters Abraham Mintchine from Kiev and Kostia Terechkovitch from Moscow. He kept in touch with Kostia while staying in Paris, where he moved in 1924.  

During his days in France he lived at La Cité Falgui?re - a Parisian artistic artery, and quickly became part of the Russian artistic milieu, formed by artists such as: Mikhail Larionov, Natalia Goncharova, Jean Pougny, Pinchus Krém?gne. 

From 1930 Blond engaged in organization of art shows and formation of the magazine Tchisla where he worked as an artistic advisor.

During the war the artist served in the French army, but he was soon discharged from active service. Afterwards, he worked in the Avignon area for a local community. After 1945 he settled down in Grenoble where he devoted himself to painting still lifes, landscapes and genre scenes inspired by postimpressionism and expressionism.   

Blond displayed his artwork from 1925, first in Paris and later in the United States, England, and Switzerland as well. Since the Occupation he signed his works with the name Blond.