La Roche Laffitte Art

A set of three fine hand painted botanical watercolour studies on silk of tulips by La Roche Laffitte. The works are signed bottom right. Some are titled and numbered (see photos) Th...

A set of four fine hand painted botanical watercolour studies on silk by La Roche Laffitte. The works are signed bottom right and titled below three of the watercolours in Latin and ...

One from a set of four watercolours of butterflies on silk, applied to handmade paper, with hand cut edges, by French artist La Roche Laffitte. Signed bottom left. (The other 3 items are available separately) A beautifully observed and detailed study of a butterfly painted...

One from a set of four watercolours of butterflies on silk, applied to handmade paper, with hand cut edges, by French artist La Roche Laffitte. (The other 3 items are available separately) A beautifully observed and detailed study of a butterfly painted...

A set of four watercolours of butterflies on silk, applied to handmade paper, with hand cut edges, by French artist La Roche Laffitte. Two are signed by the artist to the bottom righ...

One from a set of four watercolours of butterflies on silk, applied to handmade paper, with hand cut edges, by French artist La Roche Laffitte. Signed bottom right. (The other 3 items are available separately) A beautifully observed and detailed study of a butterfly painted...

One from a set of four watercolours of butterflies on silk, applied to handmade paper, with hand cut edges, by French artist La Roche Laffitte. Signed bottom right. (The other 3 items are available separately) A beautifully observed and detailed study of a butterfly painted...

Watercolour on handmade paper of a 'Ngil' mask applied to Vélin d'Arches paper by French artist La Roche Laffitte. Titled to the centre and signed by the artist to the left. A beautifully observed and detailed study of a 'Ngil' mask in light yellow/ochre on high quality hand-made paper. An extremely chic and elegant watercolour. This contemporary artist, born in 1943 specialises in watercolour studies on hand-made paper. With his highly detailed and precisely painted studies he invites us into the magical world of cultural objects, flora and fauna. The treasures of nature along with tribal regalia is his main inspiration. All of his work is beautifully observed and executed down to the smallest detail. The secret brotherhood of the ngil used large wooden masks (called nkukh or asu ngi, i.e. 'the face of the ngi'), with stylised human figures, grotesquely accentuated features, decorated with engravings reminiscent of warriors' scarifications. These masks were more or less large, sometimes polychrome, some with monoxys horns (in South Cameroon and Rio Muni), others simply coated with whitish kaolin, the symbolic colour of spirits. Father H. Trilles had several opportunities to see and even photograph them during his journey through Fang country, from Rio Muni to South Cameroon (1899-1901). The initiation was an opportunity to reveal to the neophytes, in the greatest secrecy, that the masks were not mysterious beings from the beyond but only wooden accessories...

A set of three framed watercolour and gouache studies on handmade paper applied to Vélin d'Arches of tribal objects by French artist La Roche Laffi...

Watercolour on handmade paper possibly of a 'Fang' figure applied to Vélin d'Arches paper by French artist La Roche Laffitte. A beautifully observed and detailed study of a Fang figure in muted brown on high quality hand-made paper. An extremely chic and elegant watercolour. This contemporary artist, born in 1943, specialises in watercolour studies on hand-made paper. With his highly detailed and precisely painted studies he invites us into the magical world of cultural objects, flora and fauna. The treasures of nature along with tribal regalia is his main inspiration. All of his work is beautifully observed and executed down to the smallest detail. The Fang are a major ethnic group of Central and West Africa and form part of the population of Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Cameroon. They produce monumental anthropomorphic wooden statues, used for ritual purposes, with an aesthetic that was admired from the late nineteenth century onwards by such famous modern artists as Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and André Derain. Fang sculptures...

Watercolour on handmade paper of a 'Senoufo' figure applied to Vélin d'Arches paper by French artist La Roche Laffitte. Titled to the bottom centre. A beautifully observed and detai...

Watercolour on handmade paper of a 'Baoule' figure applied to Vélin d'Arches paper by French artist La Roche Laffitte. Titled to the bottom centre. A beautifully observed and detailed study of a Baoule figure in muted olive/brown on high quality hand-made paper. An extremely chic and elegant watercolour. This contemporary artist, born in 1943 specialises in watercolour studies on hand-made paper. With his highly detailed and precisely painted studies he invites us into the magical world of cultural objects, flora and fauna. The treasures of nature along with tribal regalia is his main inspiration. All of his work is beautifully observed and executed down to the smallest detail. Baoulé sculptures are renowned for their refinement, form diversity and the labour they represent. The sculptures do not only include face masks and human figurines...