GALERIE LENGLART
Works of André Lenglart
1917 — 2002
The Collection
1186 works displayed
— Page 1 of 30
André Lenglart
1917 — 2002
Painter and decorator from Nantes
André Lenglart
A painter and decorator from Nantes, André Lenglart was a prominent figure in the artistic and decorative scene of the 20th century. Both a painter and interior designer, he left a dual legacy: through his personal pictorial work and through the creation of a prestigious decoration company that still bears his name.
A promising start
Born on September 16, 1917 in Châlons-en-Champagne, André Lenglart spent his childhood in Arras, where his father served as president of the civil court. From the age of six, his school notebooks were filled with portraits of classmates and teachers, which he enjoyed turning into caricatures — an innate sense of drawing that would never leave him. He trained at the Beaux-Arts de Douai, where he perfected his mastery of drawing and composition. In the early 1940s, he chose to settle in Nantes to begin his career as an interior architect and decorator. His first exhibition took place in 1943, at Mignon-Massart in Nantes.
The birth of the Lenglart company
In 1947, he founded the AMI Lenglart house, specializing in interior decoration and furnishing. That same year, he was commissioned by the prestigious Compagnie Générale Transatlantique to design the layout and decoration of several apartments on the liner Liberté – a former German ship Europa, which had become a symbol of post-war renewal. The company then experienced rapid growth and established itself as a reference for private residences and prestigious projects in the Nantes region. It was later taken over by his son Alain.
The painter and portraitist
Alongside his decorating activities, André Lenglart pursued a remarkably diverse career as a painter. A great portraitist, he excelled in the pastel technique — in the tradition of Quentin de la Tour, his idol along with Chardin. Behind his thick myopic glasses, the painter's gaze scrutinized people with gentleness and tenderness, a certain refined nonchalance, and sometimes a touch of humor. He created a complicity with the model during about an hour of conversation, capturing the face as it is in its privileged moments: serene, harmonious. From charcoal to pastel, from light watercolor to oils on cardboard, his work also extended to abstract compositions, cubist-inspired collages, and non-figuration. His "Inattendus" (The Unexpected), non-figurative oils on cardboard, represent the culmination of fifty years of work and pictorial research.
A master decorator and mentor
His influence was not limited to his own creation. In 1986, he was described as a "master Nantes decorator" when he encouraged the artist Véronique Jubeau to exhibit her works, guiding her in her artistic research. This role as a mentor highlights his importance in local cultural life and his openness to the younger generation.
Personal life and legacy
Married in 1950 to Annick Leclerc, André Lenglart had three children: Alain, Sylvie and Christine. He pursued his entire career in Nantes and its region, before passing away on November 18, 2002 at the age of 85. His memory remains associated with a humanist and sensitive conception of space, where painting, textile and light dialogue. Through his pictorial work and the company he founded, he contributed to lastingly enriching the artistic and decorative heritage of Nantes.
La Baule — The summer studio
The Casino de La Baule — vintage postcards
Every summer, for over thirty years, André Lenglart returned to La Baule and its casino facing the sea. On the esplanade, he opened his studio-gallery where he welcomed friends and painted pastel portraits from 4pm to 10pm. "La Baule is a dream of summer, sea and sunshine..." he confided. It was there that he was truly recognized as a painter, while in Nantes he was mainly known as a decorator. For two months, he worked tirelessly on his portraits, creating a complicity with each model over an hour of conversation. He also organized group exhibitions there, gathering artist friends such as Borry-Lehoux, Sauzereau-Guérin, Brosseau, Devanne, Mourad Horch and Jérôme Guerrand — exhibitions held "under the sign of friendship." In a handwritten note, he wrote: "In August, you will please me by stopping here in front of the Casino de la Baule from 4pm to 10pm. I paint there and receive my Friends."
"For two months here, I am on vacation while working a lot on my portraits."
— Ouest-France, 1976
"You have to create the atmosphere. A model who cancels is boring."
— Ouest-France, 1976
His words
"There are no people who are bad. You have to find their good side. But I seek to embellish people."
\u2014 Ouest-France, 1976
"Painting is my whole life."
\u2014 Ouest-France, 1976
"Two eyes, a nose, a mouth, everyone has that! You have to forget everything that belongs to everyone, to see only what is unique."
\u2014 Vacances en Loire-Atlantique
"From this generous diversity, a constant emerges with evidence: IT IS LIFE!"
\u2014 Jérôme Guerrand, 1991
"I can do nothing but draw. I've been having fun this way for fifty years."
\u2014 Ouest-France, 1976
"We talk too much about painting, we would do better to look at it."
\u2014 Ouest-France, 1976
Exhibitions
First exhibition at Mignon-Massart, Nantes
Summer studio-gallery at the Casino de La Baule
Exhibition at the Casino de La Baule (Ouest-France)
Exhibition at the Casino de La Baule (Presse-Océan)
Group exhibition — Under the sign of friendship
Galerie Bourlaoüën, Nantes — with Yves Palliès
Exhibition with Odile Desormeaux, La Baule
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