Stern Maurice (1878, Libau — 1956, New York) — painter and graphic artist.
In 1889, Maurice Stern moved with his widowed mother to the United States, settling in New York, where he worked as a card engraver. From 1894 to 1899, he studied at the National Academy of Design in New York under Thomas Eakins. In 1903, he received a travelling scholarship, and in 1904 the Academy sent him to Paris.
Later, in Italy, under the influence of the works of Piero della Francesca, he created paintings emphasizing harmony of proportions, color, light, and shadow. He spent several months in a monastery in Greece studying classical sculpture.
From 1911 to 1914, he lived on the island of Bali, where he was influenced by local artistic traditions. In 1925, he participated in an exhibition in Rome, presenting a collection of his paintings, drawings, and sculptures, including Bazaar on the Island of Bali (1913–1914).
In 1916, he married Mabel Dodge Luhan (1879–1962), a well-known patron of American arts. In 1919, they moved together to Taos, New Mexico, where they founded a literary colony. He was later expelled after wounding his wife while attempting to frighten her lover with a gun.
In 1933, Maurice Stern became the first American artist to exhibit his works at the Museum of Modern Art. He created monumental paintings for the U.S. Department of Justice (1935, Washington) and the series Seascapes (1940s).
His solo exhibitions were held at the gallery of Paul Cassirer (Berlin, 1910), the Art Institute (Chicago, 1917), the Boston Art Club (1919), Scott and Fowles Gallery (New York, 1926), Reinhardt Gallery (New York, 1928, 1930), the San Francisco Museum of Art (1936, 1938), the Honolulu Academy of Arts (1939), and the Milch Gallery (New York, 1962). Retrospectives of his work took place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1933), the Phillips Collection (1952), and the Hirschl & Adler Galleries (New York, 1962).
His works are held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and other museums in the United States.
Maurice Stern. Symphony in Rose and Gray
Mabel Dodge Luhan, М. Stern’s wife