Nicolas Lefebvre

Born in Boulogne-Billancourt, France, in 1982, Nicolas Lefebvre lives and works between Paris, Barbizon, and Lisbon. Drawn to art from an early age, he found himself immersed in a world of museums, antique dealers, and auction rooms — spaces that shaped everything that followed.

His childhood was one of movement — he travelled extensively with his parents, steeped in different cultures and ways of seeing. The connection between art and travel became central to his aesthetic, alongside an ever-present longing for the sea.

After studying art history at the IESA and the École du Louvre, Lefebvre worked in the galleries of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the Hôtel Drouot. A commission from gallery owner Jacques Lacoste took him to Peru, where he tracked down furniture Jean Royère had created in Lima in the 1950s. Back in Paris, he went on to collaborate with Axel Vervoordt on the Biennale des Antiquaires and the Kanaal Foundation in Antwerp.

Between 2004 and 2007, Lefebvre assisted auctioneers Jean-Claude Binoche and Alexandre Giquello in organising sales of primitive art — Pre-Columbian, African, Oceanic, and Amazonian — areas that aligned closely with his own research and passions. Their mentorship proved formative, sharpening his expertise and inspiring him to develop a personal collection. In 2008, he opened a gallery in Saint-Tropez that quickly gained a reputation for its unconventional presentation of paintings, photographs, furniture, and curiosities.

A self-taught artist, Lefebvre situates his work within the spirit of the Dada cabinet — embracing the unexpected as both setting and method. Drawn to the sacred, he builds a language of organic and crafted forms, weaving together the precious and the natural in compositions centred on the Egyptian ankh. These works give rise to his mother-goddess figures: emblems of the bond between nature and humanity, and the defining signature of his practice. Across all materials and references, his work reaches toward the same ideal — the union of civilisations in a dialogue of peace.

Since 2010, he has shown in galleries, foundations, and institutions across France, Morocco, England, Portugal, and Hong Kong, while extending his practice into architecture, fashion, theatre, and music.