MAURICE MOREL

Renowned French artist who worked under Picasso; well known for his water color abstraction.

Morel was born in Ornans, France in 1908. In 1927, at a very young age he moved to Paris to pursue a double vocation in art and theology where he meets and befriends Max Jacob who encourages him to paint and it pays off, as he is invited to the exhibition “Modern Art of Religious Inspiration” with Lucy Krogh… and to his surprise he is among other artists of his time such as Derain, Foujita, Rouault and Picasso.

Only a little more than 300 works, all abstract, came from the workshop of the one that was the friend of Max Jacob, that mixed with Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Marcel Jouhandeau and Georges Rouault, the abbot Morel. Ordered priest in 1934, then directs, in 1936-1937, a paint workshop with John Bazaine, where he infused a Christian presence within the artistic environment.

He was critical of art but resistant to others who judged in his occupation. He became a lecturer, explaining the living artists and the art of his era. He was invited to speak all over France and Europe. In, 1960 he finally began to concentrate on his own artistic career, following the deceased encouragements of his friends Max Jacob and Georges Rouault.

His works were and still are greeted by numerous expositions. Works of which he described as "the expression of what cannot be said itself, for the expression of the Christian mystery is possible in the non figurative art.”

At the end of his career, he created several tapestries for places of worship in Paris.