Une vie en trompe-l’œil : l’artiste bagnard Francis Lagrange (1901-1964)

Abstract

Writings on the artist and convict Francis Lagrange (1901-1964) often integrate fiction he himself created. This figure spent a lot of time indeed reinventing his life. The purpose of this article is to detect truth from false in the life of this man condemned to the penal colony in French Guiana in 1927. We return here on his parents, childhood, first offences and convict years. We will also seek to establish how and when he became an artist.

Keywords

• counterfeiting
• French Guiana
• penal colony
• artist
• painter
• recidivist