About

Charles-Joseph de Ligne, born  25th February 1980 in Paris, is a French-Belgian Contemporary Visual Artist. 

His passion for art developed early, as his family were collectors of antiques and Old Master paintings. Growing up surrounded by these works and auction house catalogues played a significant role in shaping his artistic outlook. When Charles was 12, a meeting with photographer Peter Beard on an African ranch sparked his interest in photography.

After completing an A-level program in Photography at Cambridge Arts and Sciences, Charles explored different creative fields, including sound engineering from 2000 to 2002 and landscape design from 2003 to 2012. During this time, he continued his artistic training at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris and spent three years working in the studio of painter Jean-Max Toubaux.

In 2012, he began his professional career as a visual artist, establishing himself on the art scenes of Shanghai, Hong Kong, Paris, Lisbon, Miami, and Singapore.

Auctions & Exhibitions

« Coeur de Mirroir 镜心» Solo Show au Carrousel du Louvre, 25 Septembre au 6 Novembre 2024

« Lightscape: a contemporary vision» Solo Show, Highlight, Singapore, 12 Septembre to 10 Octobre, 2024

Printemps « Soul in Motion », Paris, Avril 2024

Group Show « Burning Man Project » Art Basel, Miami, Nov. 2021

Antenor Auction, Brussels, Nov. 2020

« Art Beyond Borders », Cube Art Fair, Brussels, Oct. 2020

Group Show « Les Coups de Foudre de L’Eté » Galerie Gratadou, Jul. 2020

« First Open », Christie’s , Hong Kong, Mar. 2016

Solo Show, Shanghai Fashion Week X Vogue China, April. 2015

Group Shows, HDM Galeries, HangZhou, 2012 - 2014

“ Photography, used by Charles-Joseph de Ligne mainly for its power of abstraction is, he says, a tool for experimentation that lends itself to dreaming, to expressing and sharing emotion. The artist, free of any specific medium, first studied drawing, classical painting, structure and composition, the golden ratio. Inspired by architecture or brutalism, by the primitive arts and their strange purity, he travels, discovers Asia and Shanghai in particular, where the special energy of the city transforms and inspires him. He tries to capture the soul in movement; he tries to catch it, to channel it, to transcribe it. This exercise often passes by the color. Its symbolism. Its power. The colors induce feelings, he says and he intends to leave the person who looks free to interpret them, to feel them. They put themselves in search of a possible thread stretched through the chaos, of a balance between the complementary or opposite colors, hot or cold, nourished by these fundamentals of painting from which he tries to free himself and that he transposes for this purpose on selected papers, silver prints. The image becomes a large screen, (180X120) which challenges and encourages the viewer to walk around it, to enter it, to get lost in it. As many windows, subjects of meditation. If the form is meditative, the content, nourished by philosophy. As the Yin and the Yang, a simple and powerful symbol, its grey areas, seems to him an enlightening subject of reflection. To breathe. To pass from the static to the animate, to exceed the concept and to make it evolve towards life. To feel life, its pulsation, its dynamics. Then he moves on to very small formats in black and white in the darkroom where he places objects under the enlarger. The camera becomes a brush and the photographer an alchemist, working with gold and sepia. Each photograph becomes a pretext to transmit an idea of freedom - to be true, sincere, to remain faithful to oneself. ” *

Translated from text of P A S C A L E  G E O F F R O I S 

*Original text: “ La photographie, utilisée par Charles-Joseph de Ligne principalement pour son pouvoir d’abstraction est dit-il un outil d’expérimentation qui se prête à l’onirisme, à l’expression et au partage de l’émotion. L’artiste, libre de tout médium spécifique, étudia d’abord le dessin, la peinture classique, la structure et la composition, le nombre d’or. Inspiré par l’architecture ou le brutalisme, par les arts premiers et leur étrange pureté, il voyage, découvre l’Asie notamment et Shangaï, où l’énergie particulière de la ville le transforme et l’inspire. D’elle, il tente de saisir l’âme en mouvement ;  il tente de l’attraper, de la canaliser, de la retranscrire. Et cet exercice passe souvent par la couleur. Sa symbolique. Sa puissance. Les couleurs induisent des sentiments, dit-il et il entend laisser la personne qui regarde libre de les interpréter, de les ressentir. Ils se met en quête d’un possible fil tendu à travers le chaos, d’un équilibre entre les couleurs complémentaires ou opposées, chaudes ou froides, nourri par ces fondamentaux de la peinture dont il tente de se libérer et qu’il transpose pour ce faire sur des papiers choisis, des tirages argentiques. L’image se fait grand écran, (180X120) comme au cinéma, qui interpelle et incite le spectateur à s’y promener, à y entrer, à s’y perdre. Comme autant de fenêtres, de sujets de méditation. Si la forme est méditative, le fond, nourri de philosophie et de Tao, l’est aussi. Le Yin et leYang, symbole simple et puissant, ses zones grises, lui semble un éclairant sujet de réflexion. Respirer. Passer du statique à l’animé, dépasser le concept et le faire évoluer vers la vie. Sentir la vie, sa pulsation, sa dynamique. Passer ensuite à de très petits formats en noir et blanc à la chambre noire où il place des objets sous l’agrandisseur. L’appareil se fait pinceau et le photographe alchimiste, qui va travailler l’or et le sépia. Chaque photographie devient un prétexte à transmettre une idée de la liberté - être vrai, sincère, rester fidèle à soi-même.”