Artist Spotlight: Jean-Daniel Lorieux
Jean-Daniel Lorieux (b. 1937) is one of France’s most iconic fashion photographers, whose luminous, high-gloss imagery helped shape the visual language of late 20th-century style. Renowned for his cinematic approach and unmistakable use of light, Lorieux's career has spanned over five decades, with work that blends fashion, portraiture, narrative, and sun-drenched glamour.
Born in Paris, Lorieux began his career as an assistant at the famed Studio Harcourt in 1964 before stepping out as a pioneering figure in color fashion photography. His service as a war photographer during the Algerian conflict would leave a lasting impression, instilling in him a desire to depict beauty, joy, and vitality—often through radiant, tropical settings and compositions that celebrate leisure, elegance, and escape.
Lorieux's editorial work has graced the pages of Vogue, Madame Figaro, and L’Officiel, while his advertising clients include Dior, Lanvin, Céline, Paco Rabanne, and Pierre Cardin. He has created unforgettable images of figures such as Claudia Schiffer, Isabelle Adjani, Jacques Chirac, and Prince Albert of Monaco. His hallmark style—marked by strong colors, sensuality, and an underlying playfulness—draws comparisons to contemporaries like Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin.
A particularly ambitious project came in 2008 when Lorieux adapted Mikhail Bulgakov’s surreal novel The Master and Margarita into a photographic series starring Isabelle Adjani. These narrative-driven images showcased Lorieux’s capacity for theatrical, filmic storytelling within the photographic medium. The series, blending myth, politics, and seduction, was later exhibited at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art and brought to U.S. audiences by Deborah Colton Gallery during the 2012 FotoFest Biennial in Houston.
Jean-Daniel Lorieux
“Master and Margarita,” burning of the manuscript, M/M-3
Near Hohlovski sidestreet, Bolshoi Spasoglin,Moscow2008, printed 2011
Photographic archival print
31.5 x 47.2 inches (framed)
Edition 1/20
Exhibition History Jean-Daniel Lorieux's work has been exhibited internationally in Paris, Moscow, Shanghai, New York, and Houston. A longstanding relationship with Deborah Colton Gallery has brought his work to major U.S. audiences, including a solo exhibition during the 2012 FotoFest Biennial in Houston and features in the Dallas Art Fair in 2012 and 2013. He has exhibited at prestigious venues such as the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, FIAF Gallery in New York, and the Palais des Festivals in Cannes. In 2015, his work was featured at Photo Shanghai, followed by exhibitions in Shanghai and Cannes showcasing his iconic fashion and celebrity portraits. Most recently, in 2024, the Musée Jean-Honoré Fragonard in Grasse presented Jean-Daniel Lorieux, le bienheureux, a major retrospective drawn from the Hélène & Jean-François Costa Collection—a significant archive of French fashion and cultural photography.
Jean-Daniel Lorieux
“Master and Margarita,” Pontius Pillate, M/M-13
Pushkin Museum, Moscow
2008, printed 2011
Photographic archival print
47.2 x 31.5 inches (framed)
Edition 1/20
Collections and Recognition Lorieux’s photographs are held in esteemed collections including the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris and the private Costa Collection in France. The 2024 Fragonard exhibition marked a significant institutional recognition of his contributions to French visual culture. He is also represented in archives tied to the French national fashion heritage. His reputation extends beyond institutional holdings to numerous private collectors in Europe, the U.S., and Asia. Many of his best-known works—such as sun-drenched beach tableaux from the 1980s or whimsical studio portraits like "Carla et sa guitare" (2002)—have become iconic within private and commercial collections.
Market and Legacy Lorieux’s photographs have appeared at major auction houses including Christie’s and Artcurial. A 2002 print of Carla et sa guitare fetched €18,200 at Artcurial in 2014, and other works—such as signed portraits of Laetitia Casta and Isabelle Adjani—have achieved strong results .
Jean-Daniel Lorieux offers a rare blend of classic elegance and modern exuberance. His photographs are more than fashion imagery—they are stories, scenes, and sensations captured through a lens that prizes joy, artifice, and beauty. For collectors, curators, and scholars alike, Lorieux represents a vital link between postwar French aesthetics and the enduring legacy of editorial photography.
Matney Gallery is proud to highlight the legacy of Jean-Daniel Lorieux, whose vision continues to captivate audiences around the world.
