About Me

Michel Laurent Lavau
Born in 1990, France
Lives and works in London, UK

In pursuit of learning the Old Masters’ techniques, I trained for three years as a restorer and conservator of paintings at the Atelier de la Renaissance in Lyon. I then moved to Paris where I continued to learn about oil painting by visiting the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay and numerous other prestigious collections. Contrary to those who lamented the past such as the Romantics or the Pre-Raphaelites, I strove to rejuvenate beauty — an enduring facet of aesthetics — within the context of modernity.

To further my artistic exploration, I relocated to London to study at the University of the Arts London and at Goldsmiths, University of London, immersing myself in a community of artists and engaging with contemporary painting. This was followed by a degree at the Courtauld Institute of Art where I developed skills in historical research.

My artistic journey spans diverse genres of painting, ranging from classical to abstract and contemporary. My most recent exploration lies in religious art, where both the material form and the subject converge in an expression of profound beauty, bridging the gap between the spiritual and the physical, the eternal and the temporal.