Paul Lucien Maze was born in Le Havre in 1887, the son of Anglo-French parents. His father, a commodities merchant and art collector was a friend of various artists such as Dufy and Pissarro who both influenced the young Maze. At the age of twelve, he was sent to school in England and it was here that his love affair with all things English began. Following ten years working in his father’s firm, a year in Canada and nine months as a sailor, he began to devote himself entirely to painting. He served during the First World War and much of his work from around this period focuses on images of soldiers. He settled in Paris following the war where he befriended Derain, de Segonzac and Vuillard, all of whom encouraged him in his painting. In fact it was Vuillard who persuaded him to take up pastel painting, the medium for which he is best known.  After the war, he moved to London where he became a British citizen and had his first solo exhibition in the Independent Gallery.

Maze exhibited regularly at major galleries in London, Paris and America. His work embodies the freshness and exuberance of Impressionism and he is particularly known for his quintessentially English subjects such as the racing at Royal Ascot and the Henley Regatta.