BEAUTY: Painting--Emilie Lagarde

French artist Emilie Lagarde seems to be fascinated with a narrative based on what looks like dark fairy tales, Jungian archetypes, and ancient stories from European cultures... as if Rousseau had been painting The Black Forest of Bavaria instead of equatorial jungles. Her color palette is certainly muddy and of the forest, and her narratives are obscured as if by shadows and trees.

Top to bottom: Avant que le temps de l'inachevement ne nous rattrape (Before the time of incompleteness overtakes us); Chercher la trace (Following the trail); La grande ombre (The huge shadow); Le cheval de bataille de la grande dévoreuse (The workhorse of the great devourer); Le mains chaudes (Hot hands)

http://www.emilie-lagarde.com/

And by synchronicity, after I came across Lagarde's work, I came across a video for the most recent (Autumn/Winter '14-'15) women's collection from Alexander McQueen (Sarah Burton) which takes place on a runway that looks exactly like one of Lagarde's paintings! Burton's theme for this collection is an idealized, Teutonic, peasant-y Beauty and the Beast!

http://www.alexandermcqueen.com