English Notes Maurice UTRILLO 1883-1955 RUE A LA COURNEUVE, circa 1936 There can be no doubt about it - when Maurice Utrillo paints a canvas like Rue à la Courneuve sous la neige, it's for pure pleasure as he brings together all the elements that make up his life and work: a street lined with small houses, a few trees with fragile, leafless branches, some tranquil figures, and in the background the village steeple belonging to La Courneuve, a suburb of Paris. Maurice Utrillo uses no tricks of the trade, but paints like he breathes, and he breathes in the street as a symbol of independence and freedom. His paintings are always about stone and buildings, never about the sea, for example. In this painting, calm and serenity reign, enhanced by the color white that Utrillo, better than any other painter, could modulate to such poetic effect. During this period, Maurice Utrillo was experiencing one of the happiest times of his life with his marriage to Lucie Valore and an established career - he signed his first contract with Paul Pétridès, who was to be his art dealer until the artist's death.