Laurent Hours

Laurent Hours was born in 1946; as a young child he spent a good deal of time at the Louvre, where his mother worked as a curator. He continues to live and work in Paris.

 Laurent Hours' works create a special atmosphere, where reality and fantasy are blended.  He offers viewers snapshots of people, places and things in dreamlike settings. He creates stories of towns which have vanished or perhaps never existed, of oceans and deserts splashed in ochre. He creates his oceans and deserts, constructs his towns, and then finally uses a light brush to draw in his mysterious tiny figures. 

Laurent Hours often works with varnish because it allows him to produce works that evoke the feeling of ancient frescos and the sense of the passage of time. Hours finds inspiration in crumbling walls, ancient architecture, prevailing relics of ancient monuments.  His use of old stamps, handwritten notes, and handmade paper take the viewer back in time.  

Hours’ work is featured in prominent public collections such as the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux, and the French Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. He has also received numerous awards and distinctions including the Prix Delmas de l’Institut de France in 2007 and the Grand Prix international d’Art Contemporain de Monte Carlo Prix de ICOM (International Council of Museums) in 1980.  He is permanently represented in the US by Gallery 71.