Neglected Important Artists, No. 26

Maria Blanchard was born in Santander, Mexico, on March 6th, 1881, in a wealthy family of the cultured bourgeoisie. Maria was born with kyphoscoliosis and bilateral hip disarticulation, resulting in dwarfism and limping. Her father stimulated her artistic interest, and at the age of 22, she travelled to Madrid to study with Emilio Sala and later on with Fernando Alvarez de Sotomayor.

In 1906, she first participated in the Paris National Exhibition of Fine Arts with her picture "Gitana" ("Gypsy"). Sometime during those years, she met the Mexican painter Diego Rivera and also won a third-place medal in the National Exhibition. After this success, she decided to continue her education in Paris and was aided by the grants awarded by the city council of Santander. In Paris, she met Russian painter Angelina Beloff, with whom she started a long-lasting friendship, together with Diego Rivera. Through her teacher Kees van Dongen, she also met the painters Juan Gris and Jacques Lipchitz. With other artists, she would share a studio in her mother's house in Madrid during World War I.

In 1915, she exhibited at Madrid's Salon of Modern Art. She got a post as a drawing teacher and moved to Salamanca but, disappointed by the experience, she resigned and returned to Paris. After a period of hardship, she met Léonce Rosenberg and won the friendship of artist André Lhote. After the war, she exhibited at the Gallery L'Effort Moderne and Salon des Indépendants in Paris. In Belgium, she came into contact with the most significant group of art dealers of her whole career: Delgouffre, Flausch and Grimar (Ceux de Demain).

In 1922, she met Isabelle Rivière who would became her first biographer. She exhibited at the Centaure Gallery in Brussels and started a relationship with Doctor Girardin, the owner of the Paris gallery, La Licorne, who, upon her death, would donate many of her works to the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. She also exhibited her painting at the Salon des Tuileries of Paris and also in several Belgian cities.

After the death of Juan Gris in 1927, she fell into a deep depression and acquired religious fervor. Her family met her in Paris and alleviating some of her loneliness but also worsened her  economic situation. In 1930, she took part in the exhibition organized by Montparnasse magazine. After suffering a progressive deterioration of her health, she died on April 5th, 1932.

In 2012, the Botin Foundation of Santander organized the exhibition "Maria Blanchard, Cubist" which was a retrospective exhibition to the Reina Sofia National Art Museum from October, 2012, until February, 2013.

In 2004, Maria José Salazar published her catalogue raisonné(a comprehensive, annotated listing of all the know artwork of a particular artist)Maria Blanchard, Painting 1889-1932, co-edited by Telefonica and the Reina Sofia National Art Museum of Madrid.