Marc Lamy (*1939) was born in Lyon, France, where his parents ran a mediaeval stained-glass workshop. After studying under the Jesuits and then at the School of Art, he distanced himself from the art world.

He went on to work at a variety of trades including hospital orderly and the restaurant business, while also studying cathedral architecture. He married at thirty-five and had a son, then returned to his gastronomic interests and found himself the owner of a restaurant. In 1979 his personal situation began to deteriorate following his divorce and the forced sale of the restaurant, and in 1988 he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Lyon, diagnosed with chronic insomnia and auditory hallucinations.

This was when Marc Lamy took up drawing, mainly in the form of protean faces delineated with a Rapidograph – an architect's drawing pen – and Indian ink. Once begun, a given work had to be finished by the end of the day, an effort resulting in a gradual descent into lethargy and a near-hypnotic state.