Laurent LaFleur

Art Brokerage: Laurent LaFleur Canadian Artist: b. 1954. Laurent LaFleur appeals to the best within us, inspires the beholder to dream grand dreams, and to find peace and harmony. He courts intellectual, emotional and mystical sensibilities. LaFleur was born in Canada in 1954. Like most children, he first painted at school. When he was 15, he saw a movie star showing a painting she did in a French magazine. It was an abstract. LaFleur thought he could do the same. At that time, he didn’t know it, but he was looking for something deeper in his life. He did 2-3 paintings a year but he never dreamed of becoming an artist. At that time he met a professional artist named Rocco and they became friends. Rocco was selling his work on the street. LaFleur had never thought about selling his work. Lafleur began to exhibit his naive paintings on the street in 1975. He did that during the weekends and summer holiday. This is how he paid his college tuition. At 22, he earned his diploma. His friends continued their studies, but he realized he could make a living from selling his work. He became a full time artist in 1979. He sold his paintings 6 days a week, March to Christmas. In the warm summer sun or the winter snow, he was out there painting. In 1982 an art gallery in La Malbaie offered him a studio near their gallery. In 1984 he purchased a house and studio in Montreal where held two exhibitions each year for more than 20 years. Until that time, like all artists he knew, he painted landscapes, animals, human figures, abstracts and still life. He grew tired of “normal” painting and felt he needed to create a more personal subject. “Do I have something to say? How do I to see the world, life, love, beauty? There are millions of subjects that I have never painted! I never see paintings of love, fairies, architecture, knights, philosophy, humor, etc.” So, in the early 1990’s, LaFleur began to create his own style. He thinks that during this period of time he was making a big transition from being a painter to being an artist. “Landscapes are everywhere to inspire you, but you never see a cathedral floating in the sky with angels .” His collectors loved his new work and LaFleur rediscovered the pleasure of painting. Listings wanted.