Pierre-Laurent BRENOT “The Ochre Armchair I” Father of the French pin-up, oil on canvas

Raymond Pierre-Laurent Brenot was born on July 8, 1913, at 44 rue de Vanves in Paris. In 1928, he entered the École Estienne (a school of book arts) in Paris, where he studied for three years. In 1932, he continued his training as a draftsman with Fernand Hertenberger. During the years he devoted to fashion—from 1936 to 1950—he was employed by Monsieur Chatard, a renowned tailor for men and women, at his Fashionable store at 16 boulevard Montmartre. There, he created a line of men's suits. Building on this success, he produced numerous fashion sketches for other leading couturiers (Christian Dior, Jacques Fath, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Nina Ricci, Jeanne Lafaurie, etc.), for the fashion houses Lanvin and Rochas, and for milliners (Maude et Mano, Legroux, Paulette). He also began to create numerous portraits. From 1944, he embarked on a career as a poster artist and illustrator. However, with the rise of photography in the 1960s, this activity diminished. Pierre-Laurent Brenot then returned to his initial vocation as a painter. For a time, he had the painter André Delpuch as a student. On May 8, 1998, Pierre-Laurent Brenot died at his property in Loches. Source: Wikipedia