Adolphe Laurent (4 December 1890 - 13 June 1955) and Éliane Daniau (22 June 1895 - 9 July 1980) were a French-Brunanter couple, who were painters and writers. They were at the center of the Brunanter artistic scene of the 1950s of The Exiles, with their home at 7 Queen Street in Koningstad serving as a hub for writers, painters and filmmakers.
Biography[]
France[]
Adolphe and Éliane were born in Paris during the Belle Époque period. They met in the early 1920s, when he was an aspiring writer and she a somewhat-notable painter. They became associated with the "Lost Generation" of artists through the 1920s and 1930s.
The couple became formal and were living together by 1925, when they had their only son, Jack. Adolphe purchased a home in Brunant in 1929, where they would spend the summers. The rise of the Nazis and the re-militarization of Germany worried the couple and they permanently moved to Brunant in 1937.
Art[]
The couple was married in France in the fall of 1936 in order to better their chances of being able to settle permanently in Brunant, though divorced shortly after arriving in Koningstad. Here, they set up their home, where they began collecting the art of locals and European modern painters. During the German occupation, they hid their art and were largely undisturbed.
Their connections with artists and writers in the country led them to become a contact for many Europeans leaving the war and conflict in the period from 1936 to 1950. They were unofficially the focal point of a group later known as "The Exiles", a sort of the Lost Generation in Brunant. Their house became a gathering point for painters, writers and other artists such as Gabriel Blanchard, Henry Winston Cavell, Rosalia Prieto and others, with their "salon" at the center of Brunant's avant-garde. The couple helped propel the career of writer Henry Cavell, helping to publish his first novel in 1953.
Last years[]
Adolphe died in 1955 from a heart attack, though Éliane continued to host The Exiles at their home along with their son Jack, who was becoming a notable poet. By 1960, many of The Exiles went their own way, became less popular or died, such as Herman Waldman and Rafik Boumaza. Éliane stopped hosting salons by 1962 or 1963 and simply kept collecting art.
Upon her death in 1980, her art collection, ranging from the 1930s through 1970s, was sold in a highly anticipated auction in November. The Laurent home was sold and as of today, is occupied by a small hotel.