CESAR

César, both a master technician and technical innovator, explored the many forms of sculptural and material metamorphosis. He constantly questioned and challenged the canonical exemplary works of traditional sculpture, and implemented manual intervention through the use of the hydraulic press ("Compressions"), expanded polyurethane ("Expansions"), and imprints ("Empreintes humaines"). Cesar continually returned to these three innovative techniques, blurring and complicating any potentially linear readings of his oeuvre.

César began his studies at the École des Beaux Arts of Marseille in 1935, and later enrolled in the École Supérieure Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris (1943). Not having enough money to work with marble or bronze, César employed salvaged materials, forming his sculptures out of pieces of lead and wires of braided iron that he soldered together. Between 1952 and 1965, he created some 300 works of arc welding, including his first large scrap metal sculpture, "Vénus de Villetaneuse". At the Salon de Mai in 1960, César caused a scandal by exhibiting "Trois tonnes", a piece composed of three cars crushed by a hydraulic press; the work represented an inherent challenge to consumerist society. His "compressions" series ended in 1965 with "La Victoire de Villetaneuse".
Immediately after, César began his series of "Expansions" in polyurethane. He presented "La grande expansion orange" at the Salon de Mai in 1967, a piece over sixteen and a half feet tall and completely made of polyurethane. This marked the debut of his "Expansions happenings", which were presented publicly and often in the presence of Pierre Restany, founder of the "Nouveaux Réalistes". César joined Restany’s movement in 1961, along with artists such as Arman, Martial Raysse, Jean Tinguely, Jacques Villeglé, Yves Klein and others.
Again in 1967, César produced six models of "Sein", an anatomical casting in polyester. In addition, he created one of his most famous pieces, "Pouce", composed in various dimensions. Pouce demonstrates César’s technical prowess in casting and extends it to an infinitely large scale through the use of pantograph. César is known worldwide for a number of sculptures, including the "César" prize of French cinema; "Le Poing", a monumental seven-ton sculpture made of molten oxidized steel; "Centaure", which stands thirteen feet high, and is made of soldered bronze and dedicated to Picasso and "Paris", a piece in homage to Eiffel for the Fondation Cartier, located in Jouy-en-Josas; and the "Mémorial des Rapatriés d’Algérie", a monument standing twenty nine and a half feet high, made from the blade of a boat propeller cast in maritime bronze (located in Marseille).

In 1995, César represented France at the 46th Biennale in Venice, Italy, presenting a pile of compressed automobiles titled "520 Tons", which measured over twenty-four and a quarter feet tall. César then premiered his "Grands Autoportraits aveugles", as well as his "Vanités", which feature blank faces made of gangues of iron. The faces are intended to tower with pride over death, and also to question the foundations of the sculptural craft.

Pierre de Taillancourt

Selected Works

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Selected Exhibitions

Cesar Jul 15, 2008 - Oct 26, 2008 Fondation Cartier, Paris, FRANCE