Laurent, Robert

Laurent was born and raised in Brittany until he was 12. One day he saw a visiting American painting and inspired to become an artist as well. Amazingly, the artist (Hamilton Easter Field) and his own parents decided he could return to America with him and study art.

He studied in New York, Rome, Paris and London, eventually deciding on sculpture as his medium. He and Field founded an artists' colony in Maine in 1909 where Laurent taught summers for the rest of his life.

He served with US forces during World War I, then returned to Brittany and married. He and his wife lived in the USA, where Laurent sculpted and taught, although he was also artist in residence at the American Academy in Rome in 1954-55. He was Field's heir.

References

Dever, Maria, and Dever, Aileen. Relative Origins: Famous Foster and Adopted People. (Portland: National Book Company, 1992)
Grove Dictionary of Art. (Macmillan, 2000), also available at: http://www.artnet.com/library/040496/T049613.asp
Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia, 1993-97