Still Life

María Blanchard was a Spanish painter, known for developing a unique style of Cubism.

Blanchard was born with several physical deformities, including a deformed spine and bilateral hip disarticulation. Her growth was stunted, and she walked with a limp, causing her to be teased at school and nicknamed "the witch." Blanchard turned to painting to express her sadness and emotional pain and studied painting in the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid.

In 1909 she continued her artistic education at the Académie Vitti in Paris under Hermenegildo Anglada Camarasa and Kees van Dongen. There she discovered Cubist painting, was influenced by Jacques Lipchitz and Juan Gris, and began developing her own style of Cubism. Her style evolved to become more figurative and traditional over the years; her paintings became harsh, with bright clashing colors and melancholic themes. The resulting artwork was very emotionally expressive.

If you would like to learn more about Blanchard and other Cubists, today we continue our National Online Learning Day celebrations and we're giving you a 25% discount on all our online courses on this occasion!  :)

P.S. The most famous representative of Cubism is of course Pablo Picasso. Before he developed this style, however, he experimented with many other aesthetics. Explore eight key periods of Picasso's career!