Laure Pigeon (1882–1965) was a French medium who produced an oeuvre of 500

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

s related to her

Spiritualist Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century The ''long nineteenth century'' i ...

practice. She is considered one of the foremost

Art Brut Art Brut are a Berlin-based English and German indie rock band. Their debut album, '' Bang Bang Rock & Roll'', was released on 30 May 2005, with its follow up, ''It's a Bit Complicated'', released on 25 June 2007. Named after French painter Je ...

creators.

Life

Laure Pigeon was born in 1882 in Paris. Laure's mother Alida, a laundress, died when she was five years old. After her mother's death she lived in Brittany with her paternal grandmother, where she received a strict upbringing. At twenty-nine she married a dentist against the wishes of her family. Twenty-two years later she separated from her husband, Edmond, after discovering his infidelity. After their separation she lived in a boarding house where she was introduced to Spiritualism by another woman tenant. Fifteen years later, she moved into an apartment in the Paris region where she pursued a solitary practice of Spiritualism.

Work

Pigeon made her first drawing at the age of 52, under Spiritualist inspiration. From the mid-1930s onwards, Pigeon created hundreds of drawings, most featuring images of melancholy female silhouettes, others spelling out words, often embellished names: Laure, Edmond her husband, Alida her mother, Lili her sister, or Peter the Apostle to whom Laure claimed to have been married in a former life. Pigeon's artworks symbolize mainly abstract figures drawn in blue or black ink, some of which also contain written messages and prophecies known to be created by the medium under the effect of a trance.

Recognition

Pigeon's work, 500 large drawings and additional notebooks, was discovered after her death in 1965. Jean Dubuffet acquired her work for his

Collection de l'Art Brut The Collection de l'art brut (literally "Collection of Raw Art"; sometimes referred to as "Musée de l'art brut") is a museum dedicated to outsider art located in Lausanne, Switzerland. See also * American Visionary Art Museum The American ...

Collections and exhibits

Pigeon's work is primarily held in the

museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. Her drawings have been lent to other institutions for exhibitions, including the 2011 ''Habiter poétiquement le monde'' exhibit at the Lille Métropole Musée d’art moderne.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pigeon, Laure 1882 births 1965 deaths French women artists Painters from Paris Draughtsmen Outsider artists Women outsider artists French spiritual mediums