ELIE LAMBERT (b. 1949)
At Chantilly training centre
The artist with Pallnach, 1971
The young Elie, with Father Christmas
Beernem, Belgium, 1984.
Prix de Diane, at Chantilly,
with Cecile and Barry, 1985.
AN ARTIST'S LIFE
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Elie Lambert was born in Brussels on 25 April 1949. His mother managed a brasserie with his stepfather, a light-weight boxing champion.
Educated at the Charles Bulls High School, Boitsfort, to the frustration of his teachers Lambert spent more time drawing and painting at the Brussels Art Academy, and training and riding bloodstock on the racecourses of Boitsfort, Groenendael and Sterrebeek, than studying in the classroom.
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Learning to ride at very early age, Elie was drawn to horses, and introduced to the racing world and Belgian jockey club (along with Baron Crahay) by the Vicomtesse d’Hendecourt.
After a brief spell in the Navy, he travelled the world, ending up working in Washington DC as a horse trainer. It was here that Elie’s 28 year career as a racing journalist for the Paris Turf commenced, after a chance meeting with Jean Fagu, the publications chief editor.
Elie has lived in Newmarket, Chantilly and Deauville, and now resides in Bonneville, near the stud farm of Baron Edouard de Rothschild, the Haras de Meautry.
A great admirer of Jack Butler Yeats and Pablo Picasso, Elie’s artistic output has been prolific - he has produced art throughout his life, and has never been far from paintbrushes and a sketchpad. Since 2006 his works have been sold at Christie’s, and have become increasingly sought after and prominent on the art market.
Elie with his son, Barrington, in Les Vapeurs à Trouville, 1992.
Elie with Noel Meade and Brian Wallace, Dardjini's, trainer and owner, respectively, 1994.
Elie with his daughter Françoise.
Elie with his daughter Cecile, in the Afasec, Chantilly, 1995.
Paintings produced in Cabarete, Dominican Republic, 2008.
The artist at The Bedford Lodge, Newmarket, 2014.
Elie and Danielle, with their son Barrington, at the opening of Gallery Lambert & Lambert, at Knokke, 2000.
AN INTRODUCTION TO ELIE LAMBERT, by Tom Rooth
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I first met Elie Lambert at Christie’s, where I was a Director, Senior Specialist, and Head of Department. I had the pleasure of representing him, and watching his prices climb over ten years, before I set up as an independent art dealer and advisor. His first painting I ever auctioned (a wonderfully dreamlike racing scene, consigned in 2006) sold for double its upper estimate, at £1600, and now his paintings can fetch towards £20,000, with prices continuing to rise: few artists can boast such stratospheric growth.
While at Christie’s, it was interesting to see the expansion of Lambert’s international collector base. From affluent racing aficionados, to high-end interior decorators; from passionate collectors, to a foundation of frustrated underbidders, exasperated that they hadn’t purchased works when the artist was less well known, and more accessibly priced. It was also an experience representing him: often he would turn up, during a sale exhibition, to ‘tweak’ paintings, much to the consternation of specialists and staff, who more than once had their urbane designer outfits decorated with scatterings of Lambert greens and yellows. A freshly coloured colleague philosophically speculated whether their garments would in time go up in value.
In 2016 I had the pleasure of overseeing Lambert’s first art fair solo-exhibition at the London Olympia Art & Antiques Fair. Visiting him in his temporary artist residence in Antibes, and observing him paint his canvases for the exhibition, with complete mastery, focus (and an energy akin to that of a twenty year old), was inspiring. The fair was a great success, with many paintings purchased by new buyers, unfamiliar with the artist’s work, as well as his established base of enthusiastic collectors.
ELIE LAMBERT: HALF A CENTURY OF PAINTING is a rather different event to the Olympia exhibition, as it offers paintings ranging from the 1980s to the present day, some of which have never been seen in public. indeed, these have only been seen by Elie’s close friends and family. It was one of the most memorable moments in my career, taking them out of his studio storage into the sunlight, one overcast day in Deauville: each painting was exceptional, without exception. From decade to decade, Lambert’s style changes slightly, but his inimitable hand and masterful brushstrokes, symbiotic with a flair for colour, shape, and form remain the same.
Without a doubt, the selling exhibition at The Open Art Fair provides a rare and unique opportunity - to meet Elie, an artist in his eighth decade, and view some of the finest works that he has produced, during an inspirational lifetime of creativity and productivity. I am confident that the History of Art will look kindly upon his work.
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Tom Rooth
Director
Tom Rooth Fine Art, Ltd.
London
The artist at his previous residence in Knokke-Heist.
The artist in the 'Lambert Hall', at
The Milestone Hotel, Kensington, in 2018.
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Elie in his garden at Knokke, c. 2014.
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ARTIST
Tom Rooth: What does painting mean to you?
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Elie Lambert: Painting is - and has always been - everything to me: it is my oxygen, my being, my very existence. It is the source of my life’s light and energy.
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TR: Which artists have inspired you the most?
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EL: I cannot choose - there are so many greats, and who am I do judge? Artists are people who have chosen a way of life. To me, being an artist is a spiritual journey: the attitude, inspiration, belief, and very need to create, is something akin to a ‘sacerdoce’ - a priest having a religious calling. One could call it divine, and that is where many would say inspiration comes from.
TR: Do you ever think about the legacy of your art?
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In a rapidly developing and changing world, with an ever increasing emphasis on screens, technology and robots, artworks created by artists like me are becoming more important than ever: they provide escape and respite against the intensity of modern life. And perhaps a form of aesthetic escapism too. No matter what the future holds, I hope my paintings will always provide people with pleasure and enrichment - and perhaps one day, a glimpse into a forgotten past.
Seeing my paintings being enjoyed at homes and in collections, is wonderful, and a legacy in itself - whether it’s the Ralph Lauren Polo Bar in New York, the formidable collection at The Milestone Hotel, Kensington, or the wall of a private collector, to whose life my art adds a little something to (one would hope), on a daily basis.
TR: What drives you to paint?
EL: A better question would perhaps be 'what stops you from painting?’ The answer is absolutely nothing. Last Friday we were in Paris, viewing the superb Degas exhibition at the wonderful Musée d’Orsay. After a delicious dinner we returned to the hotel, but were rudely awoken at two o’clock in the morning, when the fire alarm sounded. Unable to return to sleep, we decided to leave, and drove the 200 kilometres back to Deauville. It was a surreal journey, like driving through a night canvas by René Magritte. By midday I was working on a canvas, inspired by the drive. So in answer to your question, nothing through life has stopped my motivation to paint - indeed life drives and inspires my art. Life and my painting are interconnected, symbiotic entities, inextricably intertwined like the warp and weft on a canvas; like oil paints mixed and fused together, to create a radiant harmony - or harmonie rayonnante as we say.
TR: When did you first paint an oil on canvas, and when did you start drawing?
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An old saying answers this best: ‘L’on n’attèle pas la charrue devant les bœufs [you don’t harness the cart before the oxen].’ In our case, the cart is the oil painting, the oxen the drawing.
As for when I first created art, I was older than my teeth, and as young as my tongue.
