Marie Laurencin, artist who embraced world with elegancy

Marie Laurencin's "Elegant Ball or Country Dance" (1913) is on view at the Hangaram Museum of the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul through March 11, 2018. / Courtesy of Seoul Arts Center

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Marie Laurencin in her studio in Madrid, Spain

French artist Marie Laurencin (1883-1956) was one of the pioneers of modern art in the early 20th century, who got abreast of Pablo Picasso and other artists of the Parisian avant-garde. She developed her unique way of portraying female figures in an elegant, dreamy style with influences from Fauvism and Cubism. However, her work and life are relatively unknown.

An exhibition at the Hangaram Museum of the Seoul Arts Center sheds light on this lesser-known artist, whose life was dedicated to art.

Titled "Marie Laurencin: The Bliss of Colors," the exhibit features over 160 pieces of art and photography, including 70 oil paintings from Laurencin's oeuvre, spanning over five decades.

Laurencin is considered the first female recognized as a professional artist, when all women could do in the art world was become a muse for a male artist.

Laurencin was much ignored in art history, but her work was rediscovered by Japanese collector Masahiro Takano, who purchased most of her works and founded the Marie Laurencin Museum in Japan.

"My parents were fascinated and moved by Marie Laurencin's works when they saw them in France during their visit to Europe in the 1970s. Suzanne Moreau, Laurencin's adopted daughter, did not sell any of Laurencin's paintings following her will, so they started collecting after Moreau died," Hirohisa Takano-Yoshizawa, director of the Marie Laurencin Museum, said at a press conference in Seoul. "The Marie Laurencin Museum opened in Nagano, Japan in 1983 and has over 600 works of Laurencin in the collection. The museum was officially authorized by the French government earlier this year, proving that the artist's value was discovered by people half a world away."

In the first section "The Youth," her early works showcase how the artist developed her style while she interacted with the artists of the Bateau-Lavoir, the circle of Pablo Picasso.


Marie Laurencin's "Self-portrait" (1905)	Marie Laurencin's "Kiss" (1927)

Two self-portraits on display showcase an interesting changes in her career. In the 1904 painting, Laurencin expresses her insecurity about her future as an artist through her sullen face with swollen eyes and large nose she did not like. However, the atmosphere dramatically changes in the 1905 self-portrait which looks confident and even haughty, as she became recognized by other artists and dealers and started to sell her works.

Laurencin was the only female artist in the group of artists who brought major changes to Western art and she is considered one of the few female Cubist painters. However, she maintained her characteristics of elegant and feminine style, setting her aside from the Cubists.

She was romantically engaged with poet Guillaume Apollinaire and Laurencin is often revered as his muse, while Apollinaire inspired many of Laurencin's works as well. "Furnished House for Rent" (1912) is related to the first moment Laurencin decided to become an artist as well as her wobbly relationship with Apollinaire. She saw two lovers on the second floor of a house from a carriage when she was in high school and the scene left a strong impression on her. In this painting, the woman standing on the left is Laurencin herself, waiting for her lover Apollinaire.

After breaking up with Apollinaire, Laurencin marries the German barron Baron, Otto von Waetjen. However, the two seek asylum in Spain as World War I breaks out during their honeymoon. During this period of exile, Laurencin's works capture her despair from the war and loneliness being away from her hometown.

"The Dance" (1919) is a major work from the period with anti-war sentiment. She always dreamed of creating a large group portrait, inspired by Picasso's "The Young Ladies of Avignon" and "The Dance" portrays the sadness of women left without men who went off to the war, despite its elegant and soft style.

Laurencin returned to Paris in 1921, as the city bloomed with culture after World War I. Her style of feminine aesthetic with dreamy eyes and the use of pastel colors blossomed around this period. Most of the subjects of Laurencin's paintings were women as she found beauty in them. "Why should I paint dead fish, onions and beer glasses? Girls are so much prettier," the artist once said.

With favorable reactions of her work, Laurencin designed sets, props and costumes for the Ballet Russes' "The Does." She also illustrated for many books such as "Alice in Wonderland," "Garden Party" and "Camille."

While working for the Ballets Russes, Laurencin became acquainted with the person who resulted in one of her most famous creations ― fashion designer Coco Chanel. "Portrait of Mademoiselle Chanel," currently in the collection of the Musee de l'Orangerie in Paris and couldn't come to the Seoul exhibit, was originally commissioned by Chanel. The portrait depicts Chanel in a languid pose with two dogs, but the fashion designer did not like the melancholic portrayal of herself and turned down the portrait for modification. Dismayed at the rejection, Laurencin did not revise the painting but kept it herself, which ended up at the Musee de l'Orangerie.

Marie Laurencin's "Three Young Women" (1953)

Laurencin continued to paint through her later days.

"She was often criticized for settling for the present after gaining fame, but I think she continued to revolutionize from the inside," Takano-Yoshizawa said. "She reintroduced the Cubist style to her work and used bold red and yellow colors, which did not appear in her earlier work."

"Three Young Women" (1953) represents Laurencin's graceful yet refined style, which was created by a woman for women.

The exhibit runs through March 11, 2018. Admission is 13,000 won for adults. For more information, visit www.sac.or.kr or marie2017.modoo.at or call 02-580-1300.