CESAR - Centaur - Homage to Picasso - Drypoint signed in pencil

Drypoint : Engraving technique using a thin steel needle to cut the metal plate.
César : (1921-1998) known as César, is a french sculptor, born in 1921 in Marseille and died in 1998 in Paris. He is the creator of the eponym bronze trophy (created in 1976) celebrating the French cinema. In 1935 he studied at The School of Fine Arts of Marseille with Raymond Normand. Then, in 1943, at the National Superior School of Fine Arts of Paris with Michel Guino, Albert Féraud, Daniel David and Philippe Hiquily, in Marcel Gimond's workshop. From 1947, he worked with plaster and iron. In 1952, in Trans-en-Provence, he first attempted welding and making sculptures in in scrap iron, using recovered materials. In 1954, he exhibited in Lucien Durand's gallery and obtained the « collabo » Prize. In 1956, he took part in the biennials of Venice, São Paulo and to The Documenta II in 1959. In 1961, he got closer to Marino di Teana, and joined The "New Realists" group (with Mimmo Rotella, Niki de Saint Phalle, Gérard Deschamps...). From 1960, César centered his work on « compression dirigée » (directed compression), which became his trademark : helped by an hydraulic press, he compressed diverse objets (cars, fabrics, papers, and even gold jewellery...). This appropriation act was a challenge to the consumer society and it kept him close to the New realist artists circle, of which he became member with his friend Arman. Reversing the spirit of compressions, César created his « expansions » (The great orange expansion, 1967) and began to work with crystal in fusion. He reached an international recognition starting from 1970. His participation to an exhibition dedicated to the hand, from Rodin to Picasso and the discovery of the pantograph enlarging process lead him to the realization of The "Empreintes" (prints) (finger, breast, fist...). From 1949 to 1966 he created more than 300 constructions with the arc welding technic (Centaur, Flying French man, 1983...). The artist multiplied exhibitions : Centre Pompidou, Tate Gallery, MoMA… Retrospective at Jeu de Paume in Paris in 1997, in Malmö, Milan, São Paulo, Mexico. César ended his career with a series of portraits and self-portraits.

Hara Museum of Contemporary Art (Japan)
MacVal (France)
Cartier Foundation (France)
FRAC Poitou-Charente (France)
FRAC Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (France)
Museum Villa Haiss (Germany)
Nantes Fine Arts Museum (France)
Toulon Art Museum (France)
Peyrassol Sculpture Park (France)
Museum Abteiberg (Germany)
Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Nice (MAMAC) (France)
The José Manuel Rodrigues Berardo Collection (Portugal)
Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) (The USA)
The Store - National Center of Contemporary Art of Grenoble (France)
The Slaughterhouses - FRAC Midi Pyrénées (France)
Kröller-Müller Museum (Netherlands)
Microcollection (Italy)
Nykytaiteen museo Kiasma (Finland)
FRAC Lower Normandy (France)
Carnegie Museum of art (The USA)
The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (Denmark)
Lehmbruck Museum (Germany)
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (MACBA) Barcelona (Spain)
MAMbo (Galleria d'Arte Moderna di Bologna) (Italy)
National Galleries of Scotland (United Kingdom)
Center Pompidou - National Museum of Modern Art (France)
ING Bank Art Collection (Netherlands)
Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (France)
The National Museum of Art, Osaka (Japan)
Randers Kunstmuseum (Denmark)
MUSMA Museo della Scultura Contemporanea Matera (Italy)
CIAC Center international d'art contemporain du château de Carros (France)
MUMOK - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien (Austria)
Carré d'Art (Nîmes) (France)
Departmental Contemporary Art Fund of Seine-Saint-Denis (France)
Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Italy)
The George Economou Collection (Greece)
National Center for Plastic Arts (France)
Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales (Uruguay)
Museum of Contemporary Art Marseille (France)
Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris (France)
Tate Collection (United Kingdom)
The Hakone Open-Air Museum (Japan)
Eric Fabre Collection
Moca Andros (Greece)
Artothèque, Poitiers (France)
University of Warwick Art Collection (United Kingdom)
The Modern Museum in Sweden - Moderna Museet (Sweden)
The Ulster Museum (United Kingdom)
Michel Fedoroff Collection (Monaco)
Fondazione Pietro Rossini (Italy)
Benesse Art Site Naoshima (Japan)
Rennes Museum of Fine Arts (France)
Museum of Fine Arts of Carcassonne (France)