Maurice Tabard

(French, 1897 - 1984)

Maurice Tabard was a dominant figure in avant-garde and modernist photography. His photo-montages, double exposures and solarized prints from the late 1920s and 1930s established him as a visionary artist.

Tabard's artistic formation originated with his father, a silk manufacturer and amateur photographer. After attended the Photographic Institute of New York, he honed his skills as a portrait photographer at the famed Bachrach studios. In the spirit of furthering his career he moved to Paris in 1928. Shortly after his arrival, Philippe Soupault, author and co-founder of the Surrealist movement, introduced him to Lucien Vogel. Vogel, an editor and publisher, helped Tabard to establish himself as fashion, portrait and advertising photographer. Tabard's work appeared in numerous fashion magazines including Jardin des Modes, Harper's Bazaar, Figaro des Modes, Elle and Vogue. Charles Peignot, founder of Arts et Métiers Graphique, was impressed by Tabard's solarizations and hired him as studio director of Deberny-Peignot.

Throughout the 1930s-1950s, Tabard continued to experiment with his personal work. His successes in this area led him to become one of the most popular avant-garde photographers of the time, with work reproduced in publications such as Bifur, Art et Decoration, Arts et Métier Graphique and included in shows like the landmark "Film Und Foto" exhibition, and venues like the Galerie la Pleiade in Paris, Julian Levy gallery and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

CHRONOLOGY

1897

Born Lyon, France.

1914

Moved to Paterson NJ where his father worked in the silk mills.

1914-1920

Studies at the Photographic Institute of New York under founder Emile Brunel.

1922

Hired as a portrait photographer at Bachrach studio in Baltimore.
Father died.

1925

Returned to New York where he meets painter Carlos Baca-Flor.

1927/28

Returned to France; shifts focus from portraits to fashion and advertising.
Philippe Soupault put him in touch with Lucien Vogel and Alexey Brodovitch.
Worked for Vogel in Jardin des Modes, as well as Jazz, Bifur, and Marie Claire.

1929

Participated in "Film und Foto" exhibition, Stuttgart.
Franz Roh includes him in his publication Foto-Auge.
Begin working for Studio Deberny-Peignot with Roger Parry as his assistant.

1930

Meets Man Ray and René Magritte.
Included in "Film Und Foto" exhibition, Vienna.

1932

Experimented with solarization.
Included in "Surrealism" and "Modern European Photography" exhibitions at Julien Levy Gallery, New York.

1933

Took part in group exhibition at "La Pleïade" Galerie d'Art Contemporain, Paris.
Arts et Métiers Graphiques published his article on solarization to the consternation of his friend Man Ray.
Charles Peignot hired him as Director of Photo Studio Deberny & Peignot.

1938

Included in "Photography 1839-1937" exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, New York.

1939-40

Director of Marie Claire in Lyon.

1942

Traveled to Africa as a film photographer.

1940s

Brodovitch, Director of Harper's Bazaar, hired him in New York.
Met Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Martin Munkacsi.
Taught at University of Hudson and Winona Lake School of Photography.
Traveled to Paris frequently on fashion assignments.
Virtually all of his work and negatives are destroyed during the war.

1948

Bestowed an award from the Photographer's Association of America.

1949

Began studies on geometry as the foundation for art.

1951-1960

Returned to France to work freelance for Vogue, Marie Claire, Le Jardin des Modes, Femina, Elle, Silhouette, Jazz Magazine.

1966

Retires from photography.

1973

Work is rediscovered in Ecole de Paris 1925-1939.

1980

Moved to Nice.

1983

Receives the "Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris".

1984

Died in Nice.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2002

"Maurice Tabard: Geometrician" Charleroi Museum of Photography, Belgium

1994

"Maurice Tabard" Musée national d'art moderne, Paris

1988

"Maurice Tabard", Galerie Municipale du Chateau d'Eau,Toulouse, France

1985

"Maurice Tabard", French Cultural Institute, Innsbruck
"Maurice Tabard", Landerbank, Vienna
"Maurice Tabard", Neue Gallerie in Linz, Austria
"Maurice Tabard" Galerie Marion-Meyer, Paris

1985

Retrospective at Fondation nationale de la Photographie, Lyon with catalogue

1984

"Maurice Tabard" Galerie Wilde, Cologne
"Maurice Tabard" Marion-Mayer, Paris

1933

Solo exhibition at Galerie la Pleiade, Paris, France

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2008

"La Photographie Timbrée" Galerie national du Jeu de Paume, Paris, France

2006

"Busy Going Crazy: The Sylvio Perlstein Collection", La Maison Rouge, Paris, France

2003

"Sammlung Ann und Jürgen Wilde- Porträtfotografien der 1920er und 1930er Jahren" Sprengel Museum Hannover, Hannover, Germany

2000

"Man Ray & Maurice Tabard", Galerie 1900-2000, Paris, France

1999

"The Photogram: 1918-1948", Ubu Gallery, New York, NY

1998

"The Cottingly Fairies and other Apparitions" Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York, NY

1985

"L'Amour Fou: Photography and Surrealism" Corcoran Museum of Art, Washington, DC

1982

Exhibition in homage to Tabard, Salon of Photography, Paris, France

1979

"Photographic Surrealism" New Gallery for Contemporary Art, Cleveland, OH

1979-80

"France Between the Wars 1925-1940" Zabriskie Gallery, Paris, France

1977

"Diez Grandes Fotografos", Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracaras, Venuzuela

1975

"Paris 1925-1939, capital of Photography" Salon de la Photographie, Paris, France

1950s

Photographic Society of America in Milwaukee, WI
Photographic Society of America in Baltimore, MD

1948

"Professional Photographers Association of America", annual group exhibition, Chicago, IL

1938

"Photography 1839-1937", Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

1936

"Exposition internationale de la photographie contemporaine" organized by Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, France

1936

"Les Dix" Jules Lelev, Paris, France

1934

Galerie la Pleiade, Paris, France

1933

Galerie d'Art Contemporain, Paris, France

1932

"Surrealism", Julien Levy Gallery, New York, NY
"Modern European Photography", Julien Levy, New York, NY

1930

"Film Und Foto" Vienna, Austria

1929

"Film Und Foto", Stuttgart, Germany

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

2002

Maurice Tabard le géometre. Xavier Canonne. Musée de la Photographie Charleroi, Belgium.
Maurice Tabard 1897-1984. Agnès de Gouvion Saint-Syr. Photo poche 93.Nathan, Paris.

1991

Maurice Tabard. Baqué, Dominique. Les Grands Photographes series. Audiovisuel Belfon, Paris.

1987

Maurice Tabard. Pierre Gassmann, Rosalind Krauss, Caroline Elissagary.
Contrejour: Paris.

1985

L'Amour Fou: Photography and Surrealism. Rosalind Kraus, Jane Livingston. Abbeville Press. New York, London
Maurice Tabard: L'Alchimiste des formes. Fondation National de la Photographie, Lyon.

1984

Hochreiter, Otto. Ein Monat der Photographie in Innsbruck: die Photographie im Orsay Musuem, das unterirdische Paris des Felix Nadar 1861, Etinne-Jules Marey (1830-1904), Maurice Tabard (1897-1984), Christian Milovanoff. Katalog der Französisches Kultuinstitut Innsbruck. 1984

1984

Cliché No. 6. Belgian monthly.

1983

Gautrand, Jean-Claude. "Maurice Tabard." Zoom, no. 102.

1977

Diez Grandes Fotografos: Berenice Abbott, Eugene Atget, Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Herbert Bayer, Bill Brandt, Brassai, Irving Penn, Maurice Tabard. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracaras: Venezuela.

1948

Gittings, Paul Linwood. "Focus Your Brain First, The Story of Maurice Tabard of Paris." PSA Journal 14. November.

1931

La Revue Arts et Métiers Graphiques

1930

Banalité. Paris
La Revue Arts et Métiers Graphiques. No 16.

1926-1930

Bifur No.3 (revue) Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes.

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Musée national d'art contemporain, Paris, France
Bibliothèque national de France, Paris, France
FNAC, Paris, France
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francsico, CA
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH