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christian de laubadEre
Stephanie Hoppen Gallery 17 Walton Street, London SW3 2HX t: 020 7589 3678 f: 020 7584 3731 www.stephaniehoppen.com
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ch r i sti an de laubad Ere
Christian de Laubadère signs his paintings in Chinese characters Lu, meaning foot of the mountain, and Mi, meaning power. This is a direct translation of his childhood nickname, Loumi, meaning “my favourite one” in the French dialect from the Gascon province. This curious combination of French and Chinese memories and traditions is at the heart of this artists work. Since he relocated from Gascony to Shanghai some six years ago, his love for China and reverence for Eastern beauty has continued to grow and is manifest in his portraits of Chinese women.
Strikingly, the figures he paints are always seen from behind, showing only the head and neck. Their individual identity comes from their hairstyles, which are either elaborate and sophisticated (drawn from Chinese history, notably the Tang and Qing dynasties), or more natural and organic, wearing loosened braids and simple plaits. The nape, a powerful symbol of femininity and sensuality, is a key element of his compositions. Often exposed in his works, it is an area of the body that is highly sensitive to the touch, while holding an air of vulnerability and intimacy.
Never revealing their faces, the elegant figures are embellished with antique fabrics. Set against the monochromatic background, the coloured Chinese or Indian collars of rich silk embroidered with gold thread or the finest French antique lace bestows a grandeur and sophistication to the works.
The mysterious fusion of his French heritage and his adopted Chinese culture in his art combines a beauty and intrigue that is powerful and delicate at once. Steeped in history and tradition yet modern, they are classically beautiful and utterly unique.
Charlotte McInnes Catherine de Rivaz
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VIRGINIA WOOLF LES VAGUES
2 0 10 mix ed med ia on canvas 152 x 7 3 cm
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Jian
20 10 m i xe d me d i a on c anv as 1 52 x 73 c m
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WU
2 0 10 mix ed med ia on canvas 152 x 7 3 cm
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ALICE
2 0 10 mix ed med ia on canvas 152 x 7 3 cm
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"Real artists can be recognized by the fact that they are impossible to classify. Christian de Laubadère’s work is such and cannot be labelled. This energetic Gascon, with a style both picaresque and delicate, has always addressed difficult and unusual subjects: in the 1970s he painted majestic angels fashioned entirely from cobwebs. Later, in search of the intangible, his work transports us to the clouds, to skies that could come from the Renaissance or even Impressionism.
Working in his pagoda, nestled between the Bay of Biscay and the French South Western forest, Christian painted the hieratic pines and their tortured branches, in a style reflecting his taste for Chinese art that was undoubtedly inherited from his grandfather Paul, himself a painter as well as an admirer and collector of Asian art.
Enigmatic and fascinating, the napes of women he paints onto a charcoal background, using a chiaroscuro style favoured by Leonardo, attain a degree of perfection that has already seduced a large international audience. For the artist, these napes are “fresh, flawless and pearly, like the gills of a fish against the brilliance of a coral reef”.
In his vast studio in Shanghai, he has been working on monumental canvases that decorate a new fivestar hotel in the Tibetan capital Lhasa. These include complex triptychs mixing temples and imaginary landscapes, ancient Chinese cities, the Himalayan Mountains and the skies where the Gods live and rule.
With his creative ardour and his style as pure as calligraphy, Christian de Laubadère creates universes that have no parallel. Combining influences and landscapes, his works embody a sense of the world today: an improbable but aesthetic mingle of cultures."
Hugo Verlomme
La Hussard
20 10 m i xe d me d i a on c anvas 1 52 x 73 c m
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TATOUAGE ET DENTELLE
20 10 m i xe d me d i a on c anv as 1 52 x 73 c m
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GRANDE NATTE DEFAIT
2 0 10 mix ed med ia on can vas 152 x 7 3 cm
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SHOU
2 0 10 mix ed med ia on can vas 152 x 7 3 cm
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“A bit of fragrance clings to the hand that gives flowers�
The five favourites
20 10 m i xe d me d i a on c anv as 20 0 x 1 74 c m
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La Couronne Gothique
20 10 m i xe d me d i a on c anv as 1 52 x 73 c m
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LES LACETS ROUGES DEFAITS
2 0 10 mix ed med ia on canvas 152 x 7 3 cm
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Alice Au Col Bleu et Or
2 0 1 0 , m i xe d me d i a on c anv as , 1 3 0 x 8 9 c m
FU
20 1 0 mixed media on canvas 152 x 7 3 cm
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Bands Katsura Obi
2 0 0 9 mix ed med ia on canvas 152 x 7 3 cm
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Iris
20 0 9 m i xe d me d ia on c anvas 1 52 x 73 c m
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Les Lacets
2 0 0 9 mix ed med ia on c an vas 152 x 7 3 cm
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TISSU GRENADE
2 0 10 mix ed med ia on canvas 152 x 7 3 cm
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c h r i st ia n d e la u b a d Ere Ch r is t ia n d e L aub ad è r e w as b o r n i n Ga sc ogn e, Fr a n c e, i n 1 945 . H e obt a ine d hi s M as t e r s d e gr e e i n Fi n e A r ts f r om l ’ Ec ol e d es Bea u xA r t s , P ar i s . H e p ai nt s o n p ap er a n d c a n v a s usi n g l ea d pen c ils , s f umat o , ch ar co al an d o t h e r m ed i a , a s wel l a s pr i n ted a n d em br o i d e r e d f ab r i cs s e l e ct e d f r o m C h i n a a n d Fr a n c e. Ch r is t ia n i s cur r e nt l y w o r k i n g o n s e ri es of m on um en ta l pa in t in g s f o r a p r o j e ct i n T i b e t . S elec t ed Exhib it io ns:
G a ller y 3 o n T he B und ( T OB ) , S h an g ha i 20 1 0 Nic k la s v o n B ue r e n G al l e r y , B angk o k 20 1 0 St eph a n ie H o p p e n G al l e r y ‘ Ind o chi ne’ , Lon d on 20 0 9 H on g M e r ch an t , S hangh ai 2 0 0 9 L on don Ar t Fai r w i t h S t e p hani e H o p p en Ga l l er y 20 0 8 / 0 9/ 1 0 St eph a n ie H o p p e n G al l e r y ‘ N e ck s ’ , L on d on 20 0 8 Pr ojec t / E x h i b i t i o n at H o t e l S e t ai d u r i n g M i a m i A r t Ba sel , U S A 20 0 7 H on g M e r ch an t , ‘ N e ck C o up l e s ’ , p e r s on a l exh i bi ti on S h a n gh a i , 20 0 6 F ou n da t io n I. A. C . , N aus s ac, Fr an ce 20 0 4 H on g M e r ch an t , S hangh ai , C hi na, p e r m a n en t si n c e 20 0 3 G a ller y A cco r d , M ar s e i l l e , Fr an ce 2 0 0 3 G a ller y o f G ue t ar i a, S p ai n 1 9 9 8 M u s ée de B ay o n ne , Fr ance 1 9 9 6 G a ler ie d e l a S e i t a, Fr an ce 1 9 8 3 Ba c c a r di Ar t G al l e r y , M i ami , U S A 1 9 8 2 Es pa c e Pi e r r e C ar d i n, Fr ance 1 9 7 6 Sa lon de M ai , Fr an ce 1 9 7 3 / 7 7 Bien n a le d e P ar i s , Fr an ce 1 9 6 9 / 7 0 / 74