Medium/Discipline: Painting, Works on Paper
Place of Death: Baltimore, Maryland
Maryland Affiliation: Active while in residence
Prominent Theme: Old Master painting; still life; portraits; drawing
Gender: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White
Biography: Jacques Maroger, longtime MICA instructor, was trained by Louis Anquetin (1861-1932), a French painter who devoted his career to recovering the lost knowledge, techniques, and materials of the old masters. In 1929, Jacques Maroger was credited as discovering the first oil painting medium of the 15th Century artist Jan van Eyck; the discovery was published in 1931 by the British Academy of Science. Critic Roger Fry invited Maroger to do a demonstration of the medium, following which a number of English artists and Raoul Dufy began to use it. Maroger received the Legion of Honor award as a result.
After becoming director of the Laboratory of the Louvre in Paris and president of the Restorers of France, Maroger left for the United States in 1939. Maroger arrived in New York and took a teaching position at the Parsons School of Design.
Maroger's immigration to the United States was influenced by Alice Warder Garrett, the American art patron and mistress of Evergreen House in Baltimore, which is now part of The Johns Hopkins University. Garrett was Maroger's friend, patron, and student. Garrett probably met Maroger by 1934. She lived in Paris from 1914 through 1937 while her husband John Work Garrett was a special agent to the State Department in charge of civilian prisoners of war. She returned to Paris in 1934 after her husband had completed his post as ambassador to Italy. In 1940 After Maroger's arrival in the U.S., Alice Garrett invited him to her home in Baltimore where she introduced him to Hans Schuler, Sr., then president of the Maryland Institute of Art. Schuler hired Maroger to teach at the Institute, where he remained until 1959.
While at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Maroger focused on the work of old master painters, researching and teaching the mediums, composition and techniques the masters used. A scientist and art mentor, Maroger believed that artists must possess a firm foundation in drawing and capably represent light and shadow, color values, and anatomy. Throughout his career, he taught many significant artists, including Joseph Sheppard and Ann Didusch Schuler. After Maroger's retirement, Sheppard taught Maroger's methods at the Maryland Institute for 15 years, passing the tradition on to the next generation of artists.
Jacques Maroger's disciple and technical assistant, Ann Didusch Schuler and Hans Schuler, Sr.'s son, Hans Schuler, Jr., founded the Schuler School of Fine Arts in 1959, which adheres to teaching the methods and principles of the European Old Masters. The School remains open today. The Schuler School web site states, "Emphasis is placed on the mastery of the technical aspects of each discipline, such as the grinding of powder pigments, the cooking of Maroger mediums, and preparation of painting surfaces."
To access an extended biography and images of Maroger's work, go to the University of Maryland University College The Tradition Lives On exhibition web site.
Maroger died while dictating a new book on techniques in the Garrett studio at Evergreen House on June 28, 1962.
Taught By: Jacques Emile Blanche; Louis Anquetin (1861-1932)
Art-related Employment: director of the Laboratory of the Louvre in Paris; president of the Restorers of France; instructor, Maryland Institute College of Art
Selected References: The Tradition Lives On exhibition web site, University of Maryland University College: www.umuc.edu/art/legacy/index.shtml
Schuler School of Fine Arts Web site: www.auronet.com/schuler/
Sheppard, Joseph. Joseph Sheppard: 50 years of art = 50 anni d'arte. (Firenze, Italy: Arti Grafiche Giorgi & Gambi), 2001.
Maryland Institutions Holding Artworks: Evergreen House Museum, The Johns Hopkins University
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