Lou Albert-Lasard

Lou Albert-Lasard (November 10, 1885 in Metz – July 1969 in Paris) was a painter.

In 1914-1916, she had an affair with German-language poet Rainer Maria Rilke. She had connections with the Belgian avant-garde magazine "Het Overzicht", which was directed by Michel Seuphor and Jozef Peeters.

She was born in 1885 into a Jewish family of bankers. From 1908 until 1914, she first studied art in Munich, where she and her sister, Ilse Heller-Lazard lived, and then in Paris. In 1909 she married Eugene Albert (1856–1929) and had a daughter, Ingo de Croux-Albert (1911–1997).

While still legally married, she lived with the poet Rainer Maria Rilke from 1914 until 1916 in Vienna. She moved in an artist circle that included, among others, Romain Rolland, Stefan Zweig, Paul Klee, and Oskar Kokoschka.

After 12 years in Switzerland, she joined an avant-garde artist group in Berlin. Her work consisted mainly of drawings and etchings of her friends. In 1928, she returned to Paris and was part of the Montparnesse art society. She befriended Henri Matisse, Alberto Giacometti. and Robert Delaunay.

She travelled with her daughter to North Africa, India, Tibet, and other countries. Drawings and watercolors from these travels were shown in 1939.

In May, 1940, she and her daughter were interned at Gurs in southwestern France, but were later released. While imprisoned, she painted and drew portraits of fellow prisoners and scenes of the camp.

After her release, she returned to Paris. In her 50s, she travelled with her daughter further, often in a mobile home while she expressed her experiences via watercolor and lithography.