Christian de Laubadere

christian de laubadEre

Stephanie Hoppen Gallery

17 Walton Street, London SW3 2HX

t: 020 7589 3678 f: 020 7584 3731

www.stephaniehoppen.com

J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:56 Page 1


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




V I R G I N I A W O O L F L E S V A G U E S

2010 mixed media on canvas 152 x 73 cm


J i a n



W U




A L I C E



L a H u s s a r d


"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



T A T O U A G E E T D E N T E L L E



G R A N D E N A T T E D E F A I T

2010 mixed media on canvas 152 x 73 cm´



S H O U



T h e f i v e f a v o u r i t e s2010 mixed media on canvas 200 x 174 cm

“ A b i t o f f r a g r a n c e c l i n g s t o t h e h a n d

t h a t g i v e s f l o w e r s ”



L a C o u r o n n e G o t h i q u e



L E S L A C E T S R O U G E S D E F A I T S



F U2010 mixed media on canvas 152 x 73 cm

A l i c e A u C o l B l e u e t O r2010, mixed media on canvas, 130 x 89 cm




B a n d s K a t s u r a O b i2009 mixed media on canvas 152 x 73 cm


I r i s



L e s L a c e t s




T I S S U G R E N A D E




Christ ian de Laubadère was born in Gascogne, France, in 1945.He obtained his Masters degree in F ine Arts from l ’Ecole desBeaux Arts, Par is . He paints on paper and canvas us ing leadpenci ls , sfumato, charcoal and other media, as wel l as pr intedand embroidered fabr ics selected from China and France.Chr ist ian is current ly working on ser ies of monumentalpaint ings for a project in T ibet.

Selected Exhibitions:

Gal lery 3 on The Bund (TOB), Shanghai 2010Nicklas von Bueren Gal lery, Bangkok 2010Stephanie Hoppen Gal lery ‘ Indochine’ , London 2009Hong Merchant, Shanghai 2009London Art Fa ir with Stephanie Hoppen Gal lery 2008/ 09/ 10Stephanie Hoppen Gal lery ‘Necks’ , London 2008Project / Exhibit ion at Hotel Setai dur ing Miami Art Basel , USA 2007Hong Merchant, ‘Neck Couples’ , personal exhibit ion Shanghai , 2006Foundat ion I .A.C. , Naussac, France 2004Hong Merchant, Shanghai , China, permanent s ince 2003Gal lery Accord, Marsei l le , France 2003Gal lery of Guetar ia , Spain 1998Musée de Bayonne, France 1996Galer ie de la Seita, France 1983Baccardi Art Gal lery, Miami, USA 1982Espace Pierre Cardin, France 1976Salon de Mai , France 1973 / 77Biennale de Par is , France 1969 / 70 / 74


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Christian de Laubadere