A Neo-Impressionist painter celebrated for his luminous landscapes, detailed still lifes, and expressiveportraits, Achille Laugé was born in the village of Arzens, in Southern France. After an initial training asa pharmacist, he committed to pursuing a career in the arts. As a student at the École des Beaux-Arts inParis he was influenced by the modernist movements of the time, particularly by the techniques of GeorgesSeurat and Paul Signac, which encouraged him to embrace Pointillism and Divisionism to create vibrantworks characterised by a delicate use of colour and light. Returning to his native region, he drew inspirationfrom the Southern countryside of France in his paintings featuring fields, almond trees, and village scenesrendered with a distinctive sensitivity to light and atmosphere. Despite his remarkable skill, Laugé remainedrelatively obscure during his lifetime, exhibiting only occasionally and living modestly. His Neo-impressionistwork, however, is now widely appreciated for its serene beauty and technical finesse.
Portraiture represents a significant part of Laugé’s œuvre. The artist’s personal interest in the representationof faces was atypical amongst the Neo-Impressionists: like Seurat, who almost systematically rejected therepresentation of the human face in his work, most Neo-Impressionists neglected the genre altogether.
In our monochrome Portrait of Madame Laugé rendered in violet pastel, Laugé brings his wife’s countenanceto life through a masterful interplay of light and dark contrasts, with her distinctive, timeless bun servingas a recognisable feature. Much like Seurat, he achieved this striking effect by intricately layering a seriesof small hatching strokes, which enhance the volumetric presence of the figure while providing it withemotional depth.