Andre Lauran

I'm back in classes now after a two-week vacation: two comps and a Brit Lit, and they are all three off to a fine start. Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poems are teed up for Monday, and I'm eager to swing.

I wanted to mention a fine mid-century French painter whose work I saw while in Ashland last weekend: Andre Lauran. I came across his work in a little boutique, the name of which I can't remember, just about a block south from the Ashland Springs Hotel. The picture was a street or park scene with figures--rather expressionistic. The impasto was thick and the colors very challenging (at least for the likes of me)--lights on lights--creamy greens, browns, yellows, blues. Somehow it all worked. The proprietor showed me a little booklet in French published in the 1990's about Lauran. The plates were wonderful and I would have bought it off her if it weren't the only copy she had. Some online searches have turned up some of Lauran's work and he seems to be rather sought after these days (I believe he passed away quite recently). Here's an example, rather brighter than what I saw. From this you'd think he's carrying the torch for Les Nabis!:

Anyway, there are more images on the web, esp. on Flickr, so check 'em out if you're so inclined. Curiously, displayed right beside him was a painting by his wife, or so the boutique owner informed me. The name on the picture was Veron (or Veran?). The painting's style was so similar to the Lauran that anyone would have assumed the two paintings were by the same artist. My searches on his wife, however, have been fruitless. It would be helpful if I had a full name. I quite enjoyed her work too.

Ciao,

CD