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
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:56 Page 2
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
christian de laubadEre
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 3
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 4
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 W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 5
J i a n
2010 mixed media on canvas 152 x 73 cm
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 6
W U
2010 mixed media on canvas 152 x 73 cm
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 7
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 8
A L I C E
2010 mixed media on canvas 152 x 73 cm
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 9
L a H u s s a r d
2010 mixed media on canvas 152 x 73 cm
"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
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 10
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 11
T A T O U A G E E T D E N T E L L E
2010 mixed media on canvas 152 x 73 cm
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 12
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´
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 13
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 14
S H O U
2010 mixed media on canvas 152 x 73 cm
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 15
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 ”
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 16
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 17
L a C o u r o n n e G o t h i q u e
2010 mixed media on canvas 152 x 73 cm
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 18
L E S L A C E T S R O U G E S D E F A I T S
2010 mixed media on canvas 152 x 73 cm
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 19
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
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 20
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 21
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 22
B a n d s K a t s u r a O b i2009 mixed media on canvas 152 x 73 cm
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 23
I r i s
2009 mixed media on canvas 152 x 73 cm
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 24
L e s L a c e t s
2009 mixed media on canvas 152 x 73 cm
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 25
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 26
T I S S U G R E N A D E
2010 mixed media on canvas 152 x 73 cm
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 27
christian de laubadEre
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
J W209 C de Laubadere_FINAL 01/09/2010 18:57 Page 28