Obituary: Robert Lapoujade

Robert Lapoujade, painter and filmmaker, died aged 72. Best known for his portraits of French literary figures like Andre Breton, Georges Bataille and Francois Mauriac. Jean-Paul Sartre wrote the preface of a catalogue for one of his exhibitions. Won a Cesar in 1975 for his animated short film Un Comedien Sans Paradoxe ('An Actor Without Paradox'). In 1973, he shocked the Cannes Film Festival with Le Sourire Vertical ('The Vertical Smile'), a full-length feature later banned by French censors because of its sexually explicit and violent scenes, including castration.