Alfred Maurer was an important early Modernist who studied at both the NAD in 1884 and Acadamie Julian in 1897. He worked in Paris for 14 years and was the first American painter to abruptly drop the Impressionistic style to adopt a Fauvist style. In 1914 Maurer returned to America with a style that combined abstraction with Expressionism. He exhibited his work in NYC at Alfred Stieglitz's gallery and in the 1913 Armory Show. Throughout the 1920s Maurer created intense Cubist style portraits. His retrospective was held in 1973 at the National Museum of American Art. Maurer committed suicide in 1932. Unfortunately, much of his European work has been lost.

Biography courtesy of The Caldwell Gallery, www.antiquesandfineart.com/caldwell