Maurice Blond, the Artists Studio, 1974, Oil on Canvas

A late work by French-Polish artist Maurice Blond (1899-1974), executed in 1974. The painting presents a dreamlike vision of the artist's studio, depicting a fantastical creature wielding brush and palette before a still life of fruits upon a table. The enigmatic subject is enveloped by sweeping abstract waves and scrolls set against a black ground, creating a composition that bridges figuration and abstraction.

The work employs a distinctive palette of dusty purple and light brown, punctuated by richer accents of red, yellow and green. Blond's expressive brushwork animates the flowing scrolls and background, while finer strokes articulate the palette and the creature's teeth, adding figurative detail to the broader gestural forms. The composition is further animated by pattern—from the undulating scrolls to the zigzag of teeth and the geometric divisions of the palette.

Born in Poland in 1899, Blond settled in Paris in 1924, where he became part of the vibrant artistic community of Montparnasse, working alongside Eastern European painters of the École de Paris including Marc Chagall and Pinchus Kremegne. While his earlier output encompassed streetscapes, still lifes and portraits, Blond's later work increasingly focused on the quiet elements of studio life: fruits on tables, chairs, and the painter's palette itself. This rare and compelling work synthesises these familiar motifs whilst introducing a fantastical element—a creature both playful and enigmatic—revealing everyday artistic practice as both mysterious and imaginative.

Signed lower right and dated on the reverse. Newly fitted in a painted tray frame, in the manner of those used by the artist for his later works. The picture is edged with black tape. Provenance: the artist's family; private collection (France).