Maxime Maufra was a French landscape and marine painter, etcher and lithographer. He was born in Nantes and began to paint at the age of eighteen. Maufra was encouraged by two local artists, the brothers Leduc, and was later sent to Liverpool to train for a commercial career; in 1883 he returned to France.
From 1884 to 90, he worked in commerce at Nantes, painting in his spare time. During this time, the artist became acquainted with Impressionism and was encouraged by the Nantes painter Le Roux and the sculptor Le Bourg.
Maufra's first exhibition took place at the Paris Salon of 1886. In 1890, he gave up commerce and began to paint full-time in Brittany, where at Pont Aven he met Gaugin and Serusier.
In 1894 his first one-man exhibition was mounted at Le Barc de Toutteville, Paris. Maufra admired Sisley and Pissarro and sometimes quoted their pointillist-like technique although his technique is clearly more aggressive and bold. His works also feature a pronounced liking for synthesis, strong color, and powerful drawing, traits reminiscent of Pont Aven artists. However, Maufra remained an independent and intuitive painter wedded to recording the truths of nature.