FOUNDING HOME OF THE FINE ARTS SINCE 1720
The story of Lefranc Bourgeois, the founding brand of Beaux-Arts since 1720, begins in Paris, near the banks of the Seine. Charles Laclef, an ancestor of the Lefranc family and an apothecary by trade, met the painter Jean-Siméon Chardin, one of the greatest French and European painters of the 18th century, and began producing colours.
TRADITIONAL GRINDING OF PIGMENTS
The painter's studio was located above the shop, on the top floor. The flat with its glass roof was too small for the painter to grind his colours, so he naturally turned to the shop downstairs to prepare them. The two men quickly grew to like each other, and a complicity developed. The painter entrusted Charles Laclef with the task of grinding his pigments and quickly introduced him to colour production. On the shelves of his small Parisian shop, pigments, like food for the soul, rubbed shoulders with spices.
OFFICIAL SUPPLIER OF VERSAILLES
Between passion and heritage, this apprenticeship was a real success for him, as in 1753, Charlesaclef, a passionate chemist, became the official supplier of paintings to the Château de Versailles. In 1722, Louis XV reinstated the government of the château, fitted out the Petit Trianon and enriched the gardens. Thanks to its reputation and expertise, the House of Lefranc made history by contributing to the historic ornaments that would make Versailles famous the world over.
THE ARTIST AT THE HEART OF THE RELATIONSHIP
A unique link between artists and the House of Lefranc Bourgeois contributes to an infinite artistic effervescence. Since 1720, Lefranc Bourgeois has worked alongside artists with authenticity, passion and exacting standards, innovating to help their creativity shine through, as illustrated by this portrait of Alexandre Lefranc, a descendant of Charles Laclef and director of the company, drawn in black pencil on paper in 1849 by Jean-François Millet. From Chardin to Millet, via Monet and Cézanne, then Matisse, Dufy, Dubuffet, Braque and Vasarely, Niki de Saint Phalle, JonOne and Olivier Masmonteil, Maison Lefranc Bourgeois, with its solid academic roots, has been able to embrace modernity, exploring new possibilities in terms of colours, textures and technologies, and integrating educational, environmental and social issues.
A MAJOR INNOVATION
The major pictorial movement of the 19th century, Impressionism, was about to emerge when Alexandre Lefranc developed the first tube with a screw cap. Until then, painters had stored their paints in... pigs' bladders! Once pierced, the paint they contained could only be kept for a short time. What's more, they weren't easy to transport. Thanks to the innovation of this plug, artists were able to take their equipment out of their studios and paint outdoors. It was an innovation that led to the rise of the Impressionist movement!
THE HISTORY OF LEFRANC BOURGEOIS COLOURS
There's a lot more behind a colour than just a pigment. There are stories. The one that painted the ceiling of the Château de Versailles, a tube that allowed it to breathe, a mixture that created movement, or the one that created the largest painting in the world... The stories behind all Lefranc Bourgeois colours are unique and fascinating! The sublime colours that Lefranc Bourgeois has been producing for over 300 years were originally of natural origin, i.e. taken from a natural material such as lead, ochre, carmine or sulphur. The pigments were then extracted, ground and sold in powder form. At the time, the professions of apothecary and pigment preparation were quite distinct. In 1720, Charles Laclef began producing colours through his association with the painter Jean-Siméon Chardin. From this starting point, a veritable epic of colour began, with Lefranc Bourgeois always a pioneer in the research and development of colours with unrivalled pigment richness, still its greatest strength today.
TITANIUM WHITE
The main characteristic of pigments of natural origin is that most of them tend to be toxic. As a result, colour producers in the 18th century had some dangerous products on hand, which had to be tamed. From the 18th century onwards, colours were created using synthetic pigments such as zinc white and silver white, which were dethroned in 1922 by titanium white, which is non-hazardous and provides better coverage.
NAPLES YELLOW
Known to the Egyptians, this opaque bright yellow pigment found its name in 16th century Italy. This absolute colour was developed using mineral pigments from the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. In a letter written to Alexandre Lefranc in 1874, the painter Jean-François MILLET expressed his appreciation of the qualities of Lefranc's Naples Yellow. In his opinion, it was the yellow with the best clarity and the greatest possibility of lightening! He wrote, ‘I have finally found my beautiful Naples yellow, which bears no resemblance to all the other Naples yellows I had been using for some time’, and Lefranc Bourgeois now offers artists cadmium-free yellow.
At the end of the 19th century, Lefranc exported its colours all over Europe! From the Naples yellow so appreciated by Millet, to sapphire blue, cadmium red and the cobalt blue so dear to Picasso, or the fixed violet so adored by Matisse... the collection grew from strength to strength.
