Maxime Maufra was born in Nantes in 1861. From an early age he was fascinated by painting and was encouraged by two local artists Charles Le Roux and Charles Lebourg. 

Having finished school Maufra was sent to Britain to study commerce and it was here that he became acquainted with the works of John Constable and JMW Turner. On his return to France he initially worked in business, painting in his spare time, however two years later a number of his works were accepted into the Paris Salon which gave him the confidence to take on painting as a full time career.

It was Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley that had the greatest influence on the artists work initially  and in 1892 he moved to Paris becoming one of the first painters to move into the Bateaux Lavoir studios made famous by Picasso and Modigliani. Although living in Paris Maufra travelled extensively throughout Normandy and Brittany in the summer months painting many landscapes and seascapes.

It was in Brittany that he first met Paul Gaugin  and became acquainted with the Pont Aven school. Gaugin  had a dramatic affect on the artist And whilst Maufra was unwilling to conform to particular doctrines or artistic rules one can clearly see in certain paintings Gaugin’s Synthesist influence. the two would become close friends, working together on a number of projects and often writing to each other about ideas regarding their struggles with painting.

It was in 1896 that Maufra had his first solo exhibition with the famous Gallery Durand- Ruel in Paris. Durand-Ruel had been one of the first dealers to take on the Impressionists and artists such as Monet and Degas would not have survived without his patronage. Maxime would go on to exhibit with the dealer for the remainder of his life, allowing him to travel widely and paint in countries from Scotland to Algeria.

Maufra died at the age of fifty seven having won numerous awards, being exhibited world wide and having works in museums such as:

Musee D'Orsay

The Tate London

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Pont-Aven, Brittany

Museum of Fine Arts , Boston 

National Museum of Art Washington

Clark Art Institute

Los Angeles County Museum of Art