Jacqueline Lamba at Simiane-la-Rotonde, 1963-1980

In 1963, Jacqueline Lamba was invited by her long-time friends Henri Laugier and Marie Cuttoli to Simiane, a medieval village in the Alpes de Haute Provence, surrounded by lavender fields. The discovery of the region is overwhelming. So much so that they lent her the house every summer for 17 years, from June to October. She painted from dawn in the morning, and spent her afternoons walking until dusk. She received rare visitors and led an almost monastic life.

Henri Laugier (1888-1973) was the son of a schoolteacher who had inherited a beautiful old manor house perched high above the village of Simiane. His widowed mother lived there from 1935 to 1952. He himself was born a few kilometres away, in Mane. Henri, who obtained his doctorate in medicine in 1919, was professor of physiology at the Sorbonne in 1929 before becoming a director of major scientific institutions. A great scholar, curious about everything, a great defender of peace and very generous, he spent the last twenty years of his life with Marie Cuttoli between Paris – rue de Babylone – and their villa Shady Rock on Cap d’Antibes. He loved extraordinary people, like Jacqueline Lamba. He is buried at Simiane, like his companion who survived him by only a few months.

The photos, from 1971, are by Henri Yves Cazin

Photograph of the house in Simiane-la-Rotonde, August 1971. Photo by Henri Yves Cazin.

Photograph in the house at Simiane-la-Rotonde, August 1971. Photo by Henri Yves Cazin.

Overhead photograph of Simiane-la-Rotonde, August 1971. Photo by Henri Yves Cazin.

Photograph of Jacqueline’s canvas in Simiane-la-Rotonde, August 1971. Photo by Henri Yves Cazin

Find out more

• Jacqueline Lamba’s works during this period