begun experimenting with solarization in 1930. In
1933, Tabard published an article about the tech-
nique inArts et Me ́tiers graphiques, much to the
consternation of Man Ray, who wished to keep the
process to himself. During the 1930s, Tabard re-
lentlessly experimented with montage, sandwiches
negatives, multiple exposures, solarization, and
collage techniques and was highly respected as an
avant-garde photographer, with his work ap-
pearing in such journals asBifur,Art et De ́coration,
and Arts et Me ́tiers graphiques. His work was
shown inModern European Photographers, orga-
nized by Julien Levy in 1932, and at Galerie de la
Ple ́iade beginning in 1933.
At the time of the outbreak of the war, Tabard
worked in Lyon as the director of the photo studio
forMarie-Claire. During the German Occupation,
he worked as a still photographer for the Gaumont
film studio. In 1942, he traveled to Africa as a
documentary film maker; later he became a war
correspondent for the French Motion Picture Ser-
vice. He was voluntarily engaged as a photogra-
pher in Alsace until the end of the hostilities.
After the war, Tabard continued to do fashion
photography. In 1948, Alexey Brodovitch, editor
ofHarper’s Bazaar, brought him to the United
States. There he met Irving Penn and Richard Ave-
don. Tabard began teaching at the Winona Lake
School of Photography in Winona Lake, Indiana,
and in 1948, he was honored for his services by the
Photographer’s Association of America. Between
1950 and 1955, he delivered a series of lectures in
the United States on the structural composition of
images, derived from his book,La Geome ́trie est la
fondation des arts, published in 1948. At the same
time, he continued working for a number of French
fashion magazines, work that he maintained until
his retirement in 1966, his astonishing contribu-
tions to avant-garde photography of the earlier
era little known, as much of this material had
been lost in the war. In 1975, his work was included
in the exhibition,Paris 1925–1939, capitale de la
photographie, at the Salon de la Photographie. In
1983, he received the Grand Prix National de la
Photographie in Paris. After his death in 1984, he
was honored with a number of exhibitions in Eur-
ope, including a retrospective exhibition at the
Fondation Nationale de la Photographie in Lyon.
KirstenA. HovingSeealso:Fashion Photography; History of Photo-
graphy: Interwar Years; Levy, Julien; Manipulation;
Man Ray; Miller, Lee; Multiple Exposures and
Printing; Portraiture; Solarization; SurrealismBiography
Born in Lyon, France, 1879. Attended the Institute of
Photography and studied with Emile Brunel in New
York. Pursued a career in commercial portrait and fash-
ion photography, while also earning a reputation as an
important avant-garde photographer in Paris in the
1920s and 1930s. Grand Prix National de la Photogra-
phie, Paris, 1983. Died in Nice, France, 1984.Individual Exhibitions
1933 Maurice Tabard; Galerie de la Ple ́iades, Paris, France
1981 Hommage a`Tabard; Salon de la Photogaphie, Paris,
France
1985 Maurice Tabard; Fondation Nationale de la Photo-
graphie, Lyon, FranceGroup Exhibitions
1929 Film und Foto; Stuttgart, Germany
1932 Modern European Photographers; Julien Levy Gallery,
New York, New York
1975 Paris 1925–1939, Capitale de la photographie; Salon de
la Photographie, Paris, France
1976 Photographs from the Julien Levy Collection, Starting
with Atget; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
1985 L’Amour fou: Photography and Surrealism; Corcoran
Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.Selected Works
Composition (surimpression), c. 1928
Untitled, 1929
Montage Superimpression (Mary Glory), 1932
Untitled, 1932
‘‘Eye-Sea’’:Hommage a`Magritte, 1938Further Reading
Gautrand, Jean-Claude. ‘‘Maurice Tabard.’’Zoomno. 102
(1983).
Gittings, Paul Linwood. ‘‘Focus Your Brain First, The
Story of Maurice Tabard of Paris.’’PSA Journal 14
(November 1948).
Krauss, Rosalind, Jane Livingston, and Dawn Ades.
L’Amour Fou: Photography and Surrealism. New York:
Abbeville Press, 1985.
Maurice Tabard. Paris: Contrejour, 1987.TABARD, MAURICE