Vieilles maisons à Fourqueux

c. 1904

Takes up painting on his mother's advice

His mother encourages Maurice to take up painting, and he turns to it to distract himself from alcohol; his real talent soon shows.

1904

Falls ill with schizophrenia at 21

Schizophrenia takes hold of the 21-year-old Utrillo; throughout his life he is confined to mental asylums again and again.

c. 1904

Self-taught: paints the views of Montmartre

Utrillo receives no systematic training: his mother suggests some principles, and he picks up other things from the artists working in Montmartre. He himself draws and paints what he sees there — cityscapes.

c. 1906

Signs his work Utrillo instead of Valadon

Until 1906 Maurice signed his works as Maurice Valadon; he then takes the surname Utrillo, the name of Miquel Utrillo, who had adopted him.

1910s

The critics recognise his work

Utrillo's cityscapes appealed to ordinary viewers, but for a long time they went unrecognised by art historians and critics, who came to appreciate his work only in the 1910s.

1920s

Becomes internationally famous

In the 1920s the recognition that came to Utrillo in the previous decade grows into fame on an international scale.