Utrillo, Maurice (

trē`lō, Fr. mōrēs` ütrēlō`), 1883–1955, French painter. He was the son of the painter Suzanne Valadon Valadon, Suzanne (süzän` välädôN`), 1867–1938, French painter.
..... Click the link for more information. and was adopted by the writer Miguel Utrillo. His mother taught him to paint in order to divert him from the alcoholism that ravaged him from a very early age. Utrillo's favorite themes were the street scenes of Paris, particularly of Montmartre, and Montmagny. Within an almost hallucinatory vision, he developed a personal style based on a modified cubism cubism, art movement, primarily in painting, originating in Paris c.1907.

Cubist Theory

Cubism began as an intellectual revolt against the artistic expression of previous eras.
..... Click the link for more information. and a fine sense of atmosphere and composition. In his later years he lost much of his original power. An extremely prolific painter, Utrillo is well represented in American and European collections.

Bibliography

See biographies by W. George (1960) and P. de Polnay (rev. ed. 1969).

Utrillo, Maurice

Impasse Cottin, oil on cardboard by Maurice Utrillo, c. 1910; in …

(born Dec. 25, 1883, Paris, Fr.—died Nov. 5, 1955, Le Vésinet) French painter. When he became an alcoholic in his teens, his mother, the painter and model Suzanne Valadon, encouraged him to take up painting as therapy; it soon became his obsession. He had no formal artistic training and was interested primarily in reproducing what he saw as faithfully as possible. Most of his compositions depict the old, deteriorating houses and streets of the Montmartre district of Paris. His best work is that of his “white period” (c. 1908–14), so called for his lavish use of zinc white in heavy layers to build up aging, cracked walls.