Marie Laurencin

Marie Laurencin (1883–1956) was a French painter, printmaker, and designer, celebrated for her delicate, pastel-infused compositions and her contributions to early 20th-century avant-garde circles. Born in Paris to Pauline Laurencin and Alfred Toulet, about whom she would learn little until later in life, Laurencin began her artistic education at age eighteen studying porcelain painting at the Sèvres factory, then Europe’s leading porcelain manufacturer.

In 1903 she returned to Paris to study at the Académie Humbert, where under the influence of her friend Georges Braque she shifted her focus to oil painting. Through Braque, Laurencin became part of Montmartre’s vibrant artistic and literary scene, connecting with figures such as Fernand Léger, Juan Gris, Marcel Duchamp, and a young Pablo Picasso. She also met the poet and art critic Guillaume Apollinaire, who became both her lover and her most ardent supporter.

Laurencin’s career spanned multiple media. She collaborated on the Maison Cubiste in 1912 with Duchamp-Villon and André Mare, marking her first foray into design. She exhibited at the groundbreaking 1913 Armory Show in New York, illustrated books including Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, and designed sets for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes and the Comédie-Française in 1928. In addition, she worked as a costume designer, interior designer, and lithographer.

Known for her portraits, Laurencin’s work captured modern women in the Parisian Art Deco and Jazz Age milieu, including her 1923 portrait of Coco Chanel. Her curvilinear forms, soft pastels, and lyrical compositions offered a distinctly feminine counterpoint to the angular Cubism of her contemporaries. Laurencin’s work remained in high demand through the 1940s, providing her with financial independence. She died of a heart attack on June 6, 1956, and was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery according to her wishes, dressed in white with a rose in hand and letters from Apollinaire placed next to her heart.