Maurice Amzallag's surrealist and avant-garde drawings are the culmination of an effort to make a meaningful connection between the worlds of poetry and graphic art.
Maurice, whose artistic Influences range from Miro and Klee to Magritte and Dali, is an accomplished poet who takes from a broad range of subjects in creating his art. His graphic work represents and focuses on the complex and subtle ways that the written word can play a role in the visual world, and how the smallest details of daily life can be transformed into artistic beauty, whether written or painted. The artist sees poetry and graphic art as brother and sister, sharing the same language to communicate meaning and emotion.
Maurice, who began studying and collecting art in the years following his World War II service with the 2nd Armored Division of the Free French, had amassed a large collection of American contemporary art. Maurice discovered such a strong passion far collecting art, he found himself at an early stage with more floral paintings than walls to put them on. As he would put it, he "bought the garden before buying the house." Over the years, Maurice put his ever-expanding collection to use in enhancing the ambiance of his restaurant, Maurice et Charles Bistro, located in San Rafael, Marin County from 1972 until 1987. Maurice now spends his time bartending at Maddalena's Café Fino in Palo Alto, and has decided that the time has come to offer his extensive collection for everyone to admire and possibly acquire, at his website: www.mauricecollection.com