Special wax technique (encaustic) on panel, 75 x 94 cm, signed lower right;
on the reverse, a description of the technique in French: “Les Deux chevaux rouge peinture à la cire, procédé spécial”
The artist did not use ordinary oil or acrylic paints, but rather a technique in which beeswax serves as the binder. The phrase “special process” suggests that Laure Martin did not use ready-made products but had her own original recipe for mixing wax with pigments. Many artists of that period experimented to achieve an effect reminiscent of old frescoes.
Paintings created using the wax technique (encaustic) are generally valued more highly than ordinary oil paintings, as this technique is more difficult, more labor-intensive, and less common. The fact that the artist herself described the process on the reverse side serves as a “certificate” of authenticity for collectors and evidence of her technical exploration.
This is not contemporary abstraction, but rather an example of mid-20th-century European painting, imbued with symbolism and dreamlike imagery.
Laure Martin was a painter associated with Nantes. This painting is an excellent example of her mature style, which combined elements of art naïf with surrealism and a strong spiritual dimension—an authentic artistic vision from a bygone era.
The work is characterized by Laure Martin’s typical decorative approach to nature. The artist rarely concerned herself with maintaining realistic proportions or perspective, focusing instead on rhythm, line, and mood.
Her work is prized by collectors of naïve art around the world for its authenticity and poetic emotional resonance. These paintings are not meant to unsettle, but rather to bring solace and remind us of the simple beauty of nature.
Laure Martin’s works are valued by connoisseurs of European postwar art. They frequently appear at auction houses in France. The fact that her works are housed at the Musée d’Arts de Nantes ensures her place in art history. This is a very important status that safeguards her name from oblivion.
Currently, the art market is strongly rediscovering 20th-century female painters who previously remained in the shadow of their male counterparts. Laure Martin, with her unique, fairy-tale-like style, fits perfectly into this trend.
