Nicolas Lagneau

Grotesque Man Wearing a Turban by Nicolas Lagneau, Bibliothèque nationale de France

Nicolas Lagneau (fl c. 1600–1650)[1] was a French draftsman noted for his portrait drawings. He was especially interested in grotesque physiognomies, which he drew in meticulous detail either from models or his imagination.[1] His drawings are usually executed in black and red chalk, sometimes with the addition of blue or yellow gouache.[1] In their heightened realism, and emphasis on facial expressions, wrinkles, and deformities, Lagneau's portraits reveal the influence of Rembrandt's early works.[1]

Lagneau is not known to have painted. His drawn portraits, which were widely copied and imitated in his time, attest to a fashion for drawings of "expressive faces", which were assembled into albums by collectors.[2]

Lagneau's drawings are plentiful in French and US museums.

Notes

1. Klingsöhr-Leroy
2. Conisbee, Philip, and Jean-Pierre Cuzin (1996). Georges de La Tour and His World. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 193. ISBN 0300069480.

References

• Klingsöhr-Leroy, Cathrin. "Lagneau, Nicolas", Oxford Art Online
• Mérot, Alain (1995) [1994]. French Painting in the Seventeenth Century [La peinture française au XVIIe siècle]. New Haven, London: Yale University Press. OCLC 983926912 – via the Internet Archive.