Lesage, Augustin

France, 1876 - 1954

Augustin Lesage was born in Auchel, in the Pas-de-Calais region of France. Coming from a family of miners, he took up this trade in his turn. At the age of 35, while working down the mine, he heard a voice predicting he would be a painter some day and from then on he addressed himself to doing drawings ‘dictated’ by the dead. Augustin Lesage subsequently engaged in painting, creating an initial canvas of nine square meters which took him from 1912 to 1913. His œuvre presents imaginary architectural constructions made up of minute motifs, finely worked with a small brush, in which the principle of symmetry plays a dominant role. Lesage, who had been to a museum only once in his life, became the official painter of the spiritualist movement.  Today he is considered a classic of art brut. His work is found in the most important art collections, including the Musée National d’Art Moderne (Paris).

Source: Based on Collection de l’Art Brut Lausanne