SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
The French painter and printmaker Charles René Lapicque developed a career in which his artistic practice initially evolved alongside his work as an engineer. Specialising in the distribution of electrical power, from 1921 he managed a district near Lisieux responsible for building and operating high-voltage power lines. He painted his first landscapes near Caen in 1920.
His artistic research developed in the context of Cubism and drew on studies of projections in space and colour. The decorative dimension of his work is particularly evident in The Organic Synthesis, a composition measuring 10 × 10 metres, which earned him an honorary medal at the 1937 World’s Fair.
In 1941, he took part in the exhibition “Twenty Young Painters of the French Tradition” with Maritime Vocation. In 1946, Galerie Louis Carré presented his works alongside those of Bazaine and Estève. Appointed painter to the Department of the Navy, Lapicque took part in manoeuvres off Brest in 1948, off Toulon in 1949, and in North Africa in 1951.
His interest in military subjects is also evident in The Battle of Waterloo, painted after he explored the battlefield in 1949 and read works on military history. In 1953, he received the Raoul Dufy Prize at the Venice Biennale, together with a travel grant for the city. Born in Theizé in 1898, he died in Orsay in 1988.
This profile brings together identity references for Charles Lapicque and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
28 references are documented at Dobiaschofsky, Artcurial Beurret Bailly Widmer, Germann, Schuler, Piguet, Genève Enchères. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.
Oil on canvas
Portrait d'un vieux tigre
Öl auf Leinwand
Catalogue period : 2026-03-19
Published result : 17000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 6000–8000
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Pencil on paper
La fuite de St
Bleistift auf Papier
Catalogue period : 2025-12-02
Published result : 500 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 500–800
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Gouache
Bunte Komposition
gouache
Catalogue period : 2025-09-17
Published result : 950 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 700–1000
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on canvas
Lagune bretonne
Öl auf Leinwand
Catalogue period : 2025-09-17
Published result : 20000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 6000–8000
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on canvas
Chocolats sur une coiffeuse
Öl auf Leinwand
Catalogue period : 2025-09-17
Published result : 6500 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 6000–8000
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on canvas
Nuit sur la lagune
Öl auf Leinwand
Catalogue period : 2025-06-18
Published result : 5500 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 5000–8000
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Öl auf Papier, aufgezogen auf Leinwand
Catalogue period : 2025-06-18
Published result : 6500 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 6000–9000
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Öl auf Papier auf Leinwand
Catalogue period : 2025-04-03
Published result : 10797 CHF
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : CHF 3000–5000
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Watercolour on paper
Paysage Breton, 1951
aquarelle sur papier
Catalogue period : 2025-04-03
Published result : 1905 CHF
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : CHF 1500–2000
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Gouache on cardboard
Etude de mer, 1950
Gouache auf Karton
Catalogue period : 2025-04-03
Published result : 6351 CHF
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : CHF 5000–7000
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Watercolour
Paysage.
Aquarell
Catalogue period : 2023-05-12
Published result : 1300 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 2000
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on canvas
L'Erymanthe III
huile sur toile
Catalogue period : 2023-03-02 — 2023-03-15
Published result : 11000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 1500–2500
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on canvas
Figure, 1943
huile sur toile
Catalogue period : 2019-06-19
Published result : 12154 CHF
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : CHF 4000–6000
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Ink on paper
Stickendes Mädchen
Tusche auf Papier
Catalogue period : 2018-03-19
Published result : 500 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 400–600
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Ink on paper
Stickendes Mädchen
Tusche auf Papier
Catalogue period : 2017-12-15
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 600–800
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on paper, mounted on canvas
"Nuit romaine".
Öl auf Papier, auf Leinwand
Catalogue period : 2017-05-12
Published result : 6000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 3800
View the lot at the auction house ↗Watercolour
Abstrakte Komposition mit Gitarrenspieler.
Aquarell
Catalogue period : 2014-05-15
Published result : 550 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 800
View the lot at the auction house ↗Watercolour
"Normandie".
Aquarell
Date to be documented
Published result : 1600 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 1200
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on canvas
Jardin Italien, 1954
Öl auf Leinwand.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on canvas
Crépuscule sur Burano, 1954
Öl auf Leinwand.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Gouache.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on canvas
Nuit romaine, 1958
Öl auf Leinwand.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on panel
Baigneuses no. 6
huile sur panneau
Catalogue period : 2014-06-18
Published result : 1500 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 2000–3000
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on canvas
Lagune bretonne, 1959
Öl auf Leinwand.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on canvas
La petite pêche
huile sur toile
Date to be documented
Published result : 48000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 8000–12000
View the lot at the auction house ↗Pen-and-ink drawing
Asiatischer Reiter im Kampf mit dem Tiger.
Tuschfederzeichnung
Date to be documented
Published result : 350 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 450
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on canvas
"La terre et la mer".
Öl auf Lwd
Date to be documented
Published result : 40000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 30000
View the lot at the auction house ↗Gouache
"Etude d′Uniforme".
gouache
Date to be documented
Published result : 750 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 1000
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19
