Fred Laurent (1922-1995) 'Period Beauty'

Original oil painting by Fred Laurent (1922-1995). Fred Laurent was born in Brussels in 1922 and trained as an artist, but at the start of the Second World War he fled Belgium for England. He saw war service as a commando in the British army. In peacetime he became a well-established illustrator, specialising in women's magazines and romantic book covers.

For the last half a century, at least up until the arrival of computers, the professional illustrators have kept the dying flames of draughtsmanship alive. When art school after art school abandoned life drawing and teaching basic technical skills, we were left with generations of conceptual artists who didn’t know one end of pencil from t’other. Fred Laurent wasa prolific illustrator throughout the 1960s and 70s, working for books, magazines. and advertisers across the globe. This gorgeous portrait is one of two by Laurent in the collection, both were chosen for their wide appeal. This perhaps sounds obvious but so much of a commercial illustrator’s output can

be all but unsaleable–King Arthur burning the cakes; the cover of a Georgette Heyer novel; you get the picture.

It is currently available to view and buy in our Cecil Court Branch in London. If you would like to try it on approval within the M25 please do, otherwise come and visit us in the gallery - we have several hundred of our paintings on display and several thousand in stock!