Georges de La Tour

Common card · No. 274292

Georges de La Tour (French pronunciation: [ʒɔʁʒ də la tuʁ]; 13 March 1593 – 30 January 1652) was a French Baroque painter, who spent most of his working life in the Duchy of Lorraine, which was temporarily absorbed into France between 1641 and 1648. He painted mostly religious chiaroscuro scenes lit by candlelight. Artist at the confluence of Nordic, Italian, and French cultures, and a contemporary of Jacques Callot and the Le Nain brothers, La Tour was a keen observer of everyday reality. His pronounced taste for the play of light and shadow on simplified forms makes him one of the most original successors of Caravaggio. Recognised during his lifetime, he was quickly forgotten after his death. Rediscovered in the early 20th century by German art historian Hermann Voss, he later inspired writers as diverse as René Char, André Malraux, Pascal Quignard, and Charles Juliet.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Georges de La Tour, Public domain