Maxime Dautresme

At the root of Maxime Dautresme’s story is passion—a family’s passion for creativity and travel. growing up, he was surrounded by Asian antiquities and works of 20th-century masters. On his father’s side, a great-uncle, a tireless captain of overseas courier crossings, fascinated by the forgotten treasures of the middle kingdom. His uncle Francis, a talented photographer, a renowned aesthete and precursor, was equally inspired by china, and in 1965 decided to revive the millennia-long asian savoir-faire by opening a concept store in Paris displaying his 60 years of profound love for the poetry of asian daily life. His mother, the daughter of Brazilian painter Cicero Dias and goddaughter of Pablo Picasso, lingered in his grandfather’s atelier, submerged by his prolific work and colourful character. This was a place that saw Leger, Matisse, Picasso, Miro, and Calder come together in sleeplessness. Maxime himself had an itinerant childhood in Brazil, Korea, Japan, France, and the USA, which helped him develop a keen eye for beauty and culture.