Born in 1970, Marc Le Rest is a French painter who turned away from a career in the Church to dedicate himself to the world of arts and lingerie in Paris. He began his artistic career as a textile designer for Hermès, Armani, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and even Sonia Rykiel. He later moved to the United States, where he worked for top home furnishing fabric publishers. Today, he is fully devoted to his passion, painting.

It was during his stay in the United States that, seized by a strange inspiration, he took up his brushes and paints to adorn chimpanzees and other innocent creatures with lace, feathers, and pearls.

Over the years, the artist has developed a unique universe, heavily inspired by Flemish portraits from the 16th and 17th centuries. His works feature a variety of animals—chimpanzees, cheetahs, gazelles—styled with the fashion of those eras. Feathers, lace, ruffs, pearls, and ribbons decorate the heads of the animals. A contrast between the animal and refinement, between nature and culture, that somehow blends perfectly.

In his recent works, the artist infuses his pieces with vibrancy and color, blending period fashion with exotic animals. His spectacular portraits reveal the beauty of women and the richness of the fauna surrounding them.