Michel Lablais (1925-2017)

La Vesce de loup 1974 Pencil and watercolor on paper laid down on canvas, signed and dated lower right, countersigned, dated and titled on the back 195 x 130 cm French painter Michel Lablais, whose work was collected by Daniel Cordier, is a puzzler: his watercolors depict figures with anatomical descriptions of almost scientific rigor. His experience as a cartographer in Indochina, from 1945 to 1947, also had a strong influence on his painting. This singular artist explores his dreams, showing the hidden face of what we think we know. Far from the morbid and cruel, he depicts the living world in a light-hearted, funny tone. "Birth and death fascinate me. But it's the in-between that we need to appreciate and manage as best we can. In my painting, I see people, insects and plants as objects. They constitute a mechanism whose inner workings I want to understand. I see things primarily as theater. But I'm neither complexed nor unhappy. As for my personality, I'm more of an instinctive person than a reasoner. In fact, I'm the opposite of a fanatic. For me, a successful life is one that allows you to fulfill your childhood dreams." (MLD)