Looking for my soul, by Maximillien de Lafayette, undated.

 

This site is a tribute to the Great Maximillien de La Croix de Lafayette, even though, many art connoisseurs and art lovers, including  a considerable number of his friends believe that HE does not deserve to be honored. Because "he walked out on his formidable talent" and "betrayed the world of art". I loved this man. He is, was and will ever be,  the most generous, giving and forgiving man who ever walked on the face of the earth. I was taken by his art and the good goodness of his heart. In 2002, in  her essay on de Lafayette, Margee Baker wrote:

"MAXIMILLIEN…THE BIG HEART…

Maximillien’s heart is bigger than the world we live in. He continues to donate so much and so generously to numerous charities, orphanages and organizations for neglected and hungry children, Christian missionaries in Africa, etc. Not only does he contribute to countless charitable and humanitarian causes, Maximillien is a man who gives financially, as well as a man who is not afraid to roll up his sleeves, get his hands dirty and give of his time, from his heart. If Maximillien earns a penny, Maximillien donates a penny.  As the homeless line the walks of Wisconsin Avenue and M streets in Washington, D.C., with consideration and respect, Maximillien was known for personally preparing, cooking and serving 5 star cuisine to his less fortunate friends. On many occasions, at the end of the evening, he would gather those who had set up camp on the near by streets, shivering in the sleet or the snow under a card-board box, to invite them to cross over Key Bridge and spend a dignified night in the comfort of his own home. Twice, he was nearly arrested for automobile theft while driving his Silver Shadow Rolls Royce when a police patrol car signaled him to stop. He did. The police officer approached and asked Maximillien and his passengers (6 or 7 homeless, unshaven, hungry looking guys…) to step outside, one-at-the time. Obviously, the police officer suspected that the driver and the occupants could not possibly be the high profile, class owners of a Rolls Royce! The lot of them, including Max, looked homeless! The truth be told, they were “very” homeless. It goes with out saying that the police officer was absolutely sure that this gang of hoodlums stole the Rolls! Asked by the police officer to show identification, Maximillien - with a great smile – provided the pertinent documents, some of which were very impressive. You should have seen the look on the face of the officer when he enthusiastically exclaimed:  “Man-o-man!  Max?!  Is that really you?! Hey buddy!!”  And so it was off into the night the band of merry gypsies-bandidos went…"

In the eighties, Maximillien de La Croix de Lafayette was on his way to world fame and stardom and all of a sudden -after having produced more than 2,000 superb paintings and sold for millions and millions of Dollars- this genius vanished. He simply, ceased to paint and categorically refused to exhibit his art. And by doing so, he put an end to a most magnificent talent. In short, he was on his way to become one of the most illustrious artists of his generation. His self-imposed exile and disdain for "commercial, greedy and ignorant" curators and galleries owners and "shallowness of famous peers"  buried him in isolation and obscurity. Easily, Maximillien de La Croix de Lafayette could have engraved his name on the pillars of immortality, but he chose to walk away. However, his art remains the symbol and echo of what a "great modern art" is or to be.

It was not easy to work on this site. De Lafayette would not cooperate. "Painting is my past, not my future.", de Lafayette told me. Where to find de La Croix de Lafayette's paintings? Where and how could I reach all those agents and art dealers who represented him, many years ago? Even though, I found hundreds and hundreds of sites and directories  about his past artwork, and a vast literature on him, I remained in vain, when it came to physically locate any of his original work. Fortunately and after 2 years of "hard labor",  I found Solange Berthier, Theodore Marlins, Jean Marie Grenadier and Robyn Horrowitz  who, twenty years ago,  were the art agents of this genius and crazy artist. And all of us began to reconstruct some episodes of his artistic life and contact art collectors who have acquired some of his paintings around the globe. Marge Baker was a great help. Dr. Kurt Rosenstadt and Dr. Etienne Leroux were fantastic. They spent months and months contacting art directories editors and independent art dealers, art consultants, and art collectors and they found what we were searching for: Original paintings, limited editions of his lithographs and artwork which has never been displayed before.

Although, there are many websites about de La Croix de Lafayette's art, this very site you are currently visiting is the only official website of Maximillien de La Croix de Lafayette. We worked hard and our efforts were fruitful. Here is for the first time, a comprehensive website of the magnificent art of  the founder of the Progressive Neo Cubism,  de La Croix de Lafayette brought to life, some twenty years ago.

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My thanks and gratitude go to many American librarians,  curators, art historians, art directories editors, the friends at  Paris Expo 1987,  and art websites webmasters who helped me in my research and in gathering information and data,  and particularly to:

iThe editors of  World Wide Art Resources Directory (WWAR) who stated on their website " Maximillien de La Croix, noted for his work in the Abstract Detailism school of painting and the promotion of Progressive Neo Cubism Movement...French Cubist Pioneer.";  i The editors of the Directory of International Art, Paris, who called him "The Neo Cubism Pioneer";  iThe French Property RESOURCES DIRECTORY that listed him under "A tribute to the Parisian cubist master"; i The editors of  JUGPETROPOLIS, Regional Directory, United Kingdom; i The Frankdoemer Directory; iThe Art Atlas, Paris; i Arts Fantastiques Directory; iUnited Kingdom, Arts, Artists and Art Galleries Directory; i The Frankreich Organization; i The Serebella Directory; iExcite Italia, Directory; iFind-Artist. com;i Guide2-home-decor.com;  i SServe.com; iThe Wunder Directory;  i Webguest Directory; i

 1800miti.com Directory;  iExcite France- Repertoire, Art Directory, Paris; i Dominion Web Directory; i eu.dir.nodeworks.com/France; iSnarx, com. index;  i Amsterdam Hall of Fame; i logoi.com;  iWorld Art Gallery; i monna.com;  i Google Directory; i www.performingartsnews.com; i mylinea.com; i  Europe Regional Directory; ihttp://www.welcome-2-europe.com.iLibrary of Congress, Washington, DC, USA.i France_Arts_and_Entertainment_Visual_Arts.html;ifrench-hotels.ws/directory;i dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/France/Arts_and_Entertainment/Visual_Arts/; isearch1-1.free.fr; i search-info.com;i  SearchBug Directory; i Brujula.net; iwww.rcfasia.org; i directory.knowledge.com; i www.top-results.co.uk; i Excite italy; Elite Associates Internationali i www.excite.it; iwww.saturnmoons.de iUniversity of Hong Kong iParis Retro iAgence Grenadier (Sylvain and Jean-Marie Grenadier) iSalon de L'Art Moderne, Paris iBarnes & Noble iNational Library of Canada. Archives (NLC)iBibliotheque Nationale, Parisi University of Virginia Libraries iAHI, Italy iAllposters.comi California State University Libraries, Long Beach, CA, USAi Encyclopedia Britannica.Booksi

I wish also to thank the librarians and all the wonderful people who helped at: news.artsakhworld.comi Amazon.com/books iebay.comi fiveoclockclub.com  iwww.gallileus.info iwww.armenian.com iwww.bookdirectory.de/bookvvvdeeejg.html iwww.neptunmoons.de/i ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/la/vermilli/history/query/01query.txt iwww.usanogh.com iwww.zlink.biz iwww.ediacarum.deitextbook-authors.abebooks.co.ukiwww.alibris.comiwww.ediacarum.deionefineart.comiwww.gallileus.infoiwww.rhedeville.comi

AND MY SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Dr. John Chen,  Dr. Etienne Leroux,  The Gardener Museum Consortium, Galleries Solange Berthier, the Baker Collection, Marinella Theodorakis,  Melina Mercouri, Simone Signoret, Theodore Marlins, Dr. Kurt Rosenstadt, Robyn Horrowitz, Aurele de La Croix de Lafayette, Issa Gedeon, McFarland  and Goldstein, Dr. Ruth Sielberg, Shoshanna Rosenstein, Rabbi Mordachai, friends at the Estate of President Georges Pompidou, Dr. Erica Soderholm, Peggy North, Valerie Constand,  Dr. Gisele von Guntenbergersen, World Art Celebrities Journal, The International Herald Daily News, London's Monthly Herald, Kim Fratelli, Marge Baker, Charles Aznavour, Combar Prince de Varda.

Elaine Blanchard, Editor and Art Historian

elaineblanchard@maximilliendelafayette.com