Marcel-Andre Bouraine
Born in Pontoise (Seine-et Oise), he studied under Jean-Alexndre-Joseph Falguiere (1881 - 1900), who had reintroduced and emphasized realism in nineteenth-century sculpture. Bouraine was captured in Germany during the First World War, and interned in Switzerland. In 1922, he exhibited at the Salon des Tuileries. The following year he began to exhibit at the Salon d'Autommne. He executed small-scale sculptures for several French firms, including Susse Freer, La Verrier, and Arthur Goldscheider, often exhibiting with the latter's La Stele and L'Evolution groups. In 1928 Gabriell Argy-rousseau (1885- 1953) commissioned a number of figurines from Bouraine, mostly female nudes, but also a fountain and an illuminated group, all of which were executed in colored, translucent pate de verre. He executed two major commissions for the 1937 Paris International Exhibition, a colored cement low relief, twelve square meters in size, for a fountain at the Crafts center and an earthenware statue representing ceramics for the Sevres Pavilion, 180 centimeters high and 160 centimeters wide.
Born in Pontoise (Seine-et Oise), he studied under Jean-Alexndre-Joseph Falguiere (1881 - 1900), who had reintroduced and emphasized realism in nineteenth-century sculpture. Bouraine was captured in Germany during the First World War, and interned in Switzerland. In 1922, he exhibited at the Salon des Tuileries. The following year he began to exhibit at the Salon d'Autommne. He executed small-scale sculptures for several French firms, including Susse Freer, La Verrier, and Arthur Goldscheider, often exhibiting with the latter's La Stele and L'Evolution groups. In 1928 Gabriell Argy-rousseau (1885- 1953) commissioned a number of figurines from Bouraine, mostly female nudes, but also a fountain and an illuminated group, all of which were executed in colored, translucent pate de verre. He executed two major commissions for the 1937 Paris International Exhibition, a colored cement low relief, twelve square meters in size, for a fountain at the Crafts center and an earthenware statue representing ceramics for the Sevres Pavilion, 180 centimeters high and 160 centimeters wide.
Dimitri Chiparus
(1888 - 1950)
Born in Romania, Dimitri Chiparus immigrated to Paris, where he studied under Anonin Mercier and Jean Boucher. He began to exhibit small sculptures, his very first showing at the Salon of the Societe des Artistes Francais in 1914 leading to an Honouable Mention. Louis Comfort Tiffany was also awarded an Honourable Mention that same year. Chiparus was an extremely prolific artist, producing a wide variety of mainly small-scale figures. These were executed generally either all in bronze or in bronze and ivory. Some designs were executed in both media, and a few occasionally in more than one size. A few figures were executed in spelter and ivorene though the white metal was cold painted in the same way as bronze, while the ivorene, which was cast, was painted in bright colors. Most of his figures were edited by the firm of Edmond Etling, though he executed a number of models for the firm of Arthur Goldscheider. Both of course had their own bronze foundries. He exhibited a bronze edited by Goldscheider at the 1928 Salon, La Danseuse Ta-Keo. His last recorded exhibit at the Salon was in 1939. Though his feminine figures and dancers made his reputation, he also produced a vast array of sculptures of children. Some are quite charming, often sentimental, but others were designed to appeal to slushy tastes that have become fashionable. He designed a number of colorful ceramic figures for Etling. Chiparus also executed a considerable number of religious figures. A few of his figures were edited by Editions Reveyrolis and some by Les Neveux de J Lehmann. Some of his bronzes were cast at the Marcel Guillemard foundry in Paris. He was awarded a prize at the Salon des Beaux Arts, in which several chryselphantine sculptors exhibited.
Born in Romania, Dimitri Chiparus immigrated to Paris, where he studied under Anonin Mercier and Jean Boucher. He began to exhibit small sculptures, his very first showing at the Salon of the Societe des Artistes Francais in 1914 leading to an Honouable Mention. Louis Comfort Tiffany was also awarded an Honourable Mention that same year. Chiparus was an extremely prolific artist, producing a wide variety of mainly small-scale figures. These were executed generally either all in bronze or in bronze and ivory. Some designs were executed in both media, and a few occasionally in more than one size. A few figures were executed in spelter and ivorene though the white metal was cold painted in the same way as bronze, while the ivorene, which was cast, was painted in bright colors. Most of his figures were edited by the firm of Edmond Etling, though he executed a number of models for the firm of Arthur Goldscheider. Both of course had their own bronze foundries. He exhibited a bronze edited by Goldscheider at the 1928 Salon, La Danseuse Ta-Keo. His last recorded exhibit at the Salon was in 1939. Though his feminine figures and dancers made his reputation, he also produced a vast array of sculptures of children. Some are quite charming, often sentimental, but others were designed to appeal to slushy tastes that have become fashionable. He designed a number of colorful ceramic figures for Etling. Chiparus also executed a considerable number of religious figures. A few of his figures were edited by Editions Reveyrolis and some by Les Neveux de J Lehmann. Some of his bronzes were cast at the Marcel Guillemard foundry in Paris. He was awarded a prize at the Salon des Beaux Arts, in which several chryselphantine sculptors exhibited.
Clare Jeanne Roberte Colinet
Born in Brussels, she studied sculpture there with Jef Lambeaux (1852 - 1908) before moving to Paris. She first exhibited at the Salon of the Societe des Artistes Francais in 1913, and was awarded an Honourable Mention the following year, as were Chiparus and Tiffany. She became a naturalized Frenchwoman, and continued to exhibit at the Salon des Artistes Francais, where she was elected a full member in 1929, which she celebrated by exhibiting the plaster cast of a statue entitles Les reves sont des bulles da savon (Dreams are Soap Bubbles). She exhibited at the Salon de Independents in Paris from 1937 - 1940 and was a Member of the Union des Femmes peintres et sculpteurs (Union of Women Painters and Sculptures). She executed her compositions mainly for three editors, Edmond Etling, Arthur Goldscheider and Les Neveux de J Lehmann. She lived at Asnieres (Seine), at 59 rue du Chateau. Colinet's figures are frequently very dramatic in concept and catch the models in hieratic poses, in the midst of executing a particularly complicated set of dance steps, or else forming the climax of a Biblical or historical anecdote. The bronze in her figures is normally patinated, not cold painted, and sometimes jeweled. Her last recorded exhibition at the Salon was in 1945.
Born in Brussels, she studied sculpture there with Jef Lambeaux (1852 - 1908) before moving to Paris. She first exhibited at the Salon of the Societe des Artistes Francais in 1913, and was awarded an Honourable Mention the following year, as were Chiparus and Tiffany. She became a naturalized Frenchwoman, and continued to exhibit at the Salon des Artistes Francais, where she was elected a full member in 1929, which she celebrated by exhibiting the plaster cast of a statue entitles Les reves sont des bulles da savon (Dreams are Soap Bubbles). She exhibited at the Salon de Independents in Paris from 1937 - 1940 and was a Member of the Union des Femmes peintres et sculpteurs (Union of Women Painters and Sculptures). She executed her compositions mainly for three editors, Edmond Etling, Arthur Goldscheider and Les Neveux de J Lehmann. She lived at Asnieres (Seine), at 59 rue du Chateau. Colinet's figures are frequently very dramatic in concept and catch the models in hieratic poses, in the midst of executing a particularly complicated set of dance steps, or else forming the climax of a Biblical or historical anecdote. The bronze in her figures is normally patinated, not cold painted, and sometimes jeweled. Her last recorded exhibition at the Salon was in 1945.
Joe Descomps (1869 - 1950)
Joseph-Emmanuel-Jules Descomps was born in Clermont-Ferrand, and studied under H Hiolin. He exhibited regularly at the Salon of the Societe des Artistes Francais, and was elected a Full Member in 1893. He was awarded an Honourable Mention in the Sculpture Section in 1898, and a Third Class Medal in 1900 in the Applied Arts Section. He designed and executed a wide range of objects in the Art Nouveau style, including jewelry, sculptures in bronze and in stone and ceramics. In the nineteen-twenties he concentrated more on small-scale sculptures, mostly in bronze and ivory or entirely in ivory most of which were edited by the firm of Edmund Etling.
Joseph-Emmanuel-Jules Descomps was born in Clermont-Ferrand, and studied under H Hiolin. He exhibited regularly at the Salon of the Societe des Artistes Francais, and was elected a Full Member in 1893. He was awarded an Honourable Mention in the Sculpture Section in 1898, and a Third Class Medal in 1900 in the Applied Arts Section. He designed and executed a wide range of objects in the Art Nouveau style, including jewelry, sculptures in bronze and in stone and ceramics. In the nineteen-twenties he concentrated more on small-scale sculptures, mostly in bronze and ivory or entirely in ivory most of which were edited by the firm of Edmund Etling.
Phillippe Deveriez
Born in Thon, Poland, he moved to Paris in the nineteen-twenties. He executed a number of small bronzes, mostly figures of women fashioned with a degree of wry humor through slight exaggeration of stance or expression. He also executed a few bronze and ivories. He exhibited at the 1926 Salon of the Societe des Artistes Francais.
Born in Thon, Poland, he moved to Paris in the nineteen-twenties. He executed a number of small bronzes, mostly figures of women fashioned with a degree of wry humor through slight exaggeration of stance or expression. He also executed a few bronze and ivories. He exhibited at the 1926 Salon of the Societe des Artistes Francais.
Gerdago
Creator of some of the most outrageously stylized bronze and ivory figures, exotically clad dancers colored in intricate patterns on the bronze, a cross between Arabian nights cabaret and Futuristic Folies Bergere. Several were edited by Arthur Rubinstein.
Creator of some of the most outrageously stylized bronze and ivory figures, exotically clad dancers colored in intricate patterns on the bronze, a cross between Arabian nights cabaret and Futuristic Folies Bergere. Several were edited by Arthur Rubinstein.
A Gilbert
French sculptor of bronze and ivory figures in the inter-war years. The subjects vary from various dancers to Venetian ladies in costume and pert maidens in Commedia dell Arte costumes. All were edited by Edmund Etling. A Gilbert must not be confused with the English sculptor Sir Alfred Gilbert.
French sculptor of bronze and ivory figures in the inter-war years. The subjects vary from various dancers to Venetian ladies in costume and pert maidens in Commedia dell Arte costumes. All were edited by Edmund Etling. A Gilbert must not be confused with the English sculptor Sir Alfred Gilbert.
Otto Poertzel (1876 - 1973)
Born in Scheibe (Thuringer Wald) in Germany on the 24th October 1876, he was the son of a porcelain designer. He studied at the Porcelain Industry Technical School under Professor R. Moller before setting up as a sculptor in Coburg in 1900. Eight years later he went to the Munich Academy to study with Professor Erwin Kurz (1857 - 1931), then a famous teacher and sculptor of public statuary, and Adolf von Hildebrandt (1847 - 1921). He exhibited at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and the 1910 Brussels International Exhibition. In the 1920's and 1930's in Coburg, he was commissioned to execute portrait busts and figures of various members of the reigning Ducal family of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and came under the protection of the Grand Duke Carl Eduard. He also executed a portrait of Ferdinand, the exiled King of Bulgaria, who lived in Coburg. In additional to many portraits, he sculpted garden statures and public statuary, including some massive monuments. He also sculpted the portraits of such personalities as Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, and a number of theatre, music hall ballet and movie stars. He also designed a number of smaller decorative groups for both Prieiss & Kassler and Rosenthal und Maeder. While he knew several of the persons he depicted in these designs, he actually modeled them from photographs. He had been named Honorary Professor by the State, and so his sculptures are normally signed "Prof Poetzel". He was a Founder Member of the Coburg Art Association serving on its Committee for over 27 years; was Chairman of the Guild of St Lucas; and Member of the Imperial Federation of German Artists. He was decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Ernestine House Order. He died in Coburg on the 16th of January 1963.
Born in Scheibe (Thuringer Wald) in Germany on the 24th October 1876, he was the son of a porcelain designer. He studied at the Porcelain Industry Technical School under Professor R. Moller before setting up as a sculptor in Coburg in 1900. Eight years later he went to the Munich Academy to study with Professor Erwin Kurz (1857 - 1931), then a famous teacher and sculptor of public statuary, and Adolf von Hildebrandt (1847 - 1921). He exhibited at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and the 1910 Brussels International Exhibition. In the 1920's and 1930's in Coburg, he was commissioned to execute portrait busts and figures of various members of the reigning Ducal family of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and came under the protection of the Grand Duke Carl Eduard. He also executed a portrait of Ferdinand, the exiled King of Bulgaria, who lived in Coburg. In additional to many portraits, he sculpted garden statures and public statuary, including some massive monuments. He also sculpted the portraits of such personalities as Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, and a number of theatre, music hall ballet and movie stars. He also designed a number of smaller decorative groups for both Prieiss & Kassler and Rosenthal und Maeder. While he knew several of the persons he depicted in these designs, he actually modeled them from photographs. He had been named Honorary Professor by the State, and so his sculptures are normally signed "Prof Poetzel". He was a Founder Member of the Coburg Art Association serving on its Committee for over 27 years; was Chairman of the Guild of St Lucas; and Member of the Imperial Federation of German Artists. He was decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Ernestine House Order. He died in Coburg on the 16th of January 1963.
Ferdinand Preiss (1882 - 1943)
Johann Philipp Ferdinand Preiss was born in Erbach (Oderwald) in Germany on the 13th of February 1882. His father owned and ran the local Preiss Hotel, while his mother came from a traditional ivory carving family. When Ferdinand was fifteen years old his father died, the Hotel was sold, and the six children dispersed among relatives and friends. Ferdinand Preiss moved in with the family of Philipp Willmann (1846 - 1910), a master ivory carver and teacher with whom he went through a thorough apprenticeship, emerging as one of the finest ivory carvers of his generation, and he remained in Willmann's studio until Easter 1901. His movements over the next few years are unknown, but by 1905 he appears to have been working for Carl Haebler in Baden-Baden after a period in Milan; AT the Haebler works he met a number of young carvers from Erbach. One co-worker, Arthur Kassler himself a Berliner went into partnership with him and they moved to Berlin, where they opened a small workshop in which they worked as turners and carvers in ivory. The firm was called Preiss and Kassler. In 1907 Preiss married Margartehe Emma Clara Hilme. I 1910 the firm took on two new carvers. Louis Kuchler and Ludwig Walther and the firm's name was shortened to PK. The earliest compositional figure by Preiss is a stauette of Phryne carved from three different woods in his son's collection. His early designs were classically inspired Grecian figures certainly part of the tradition received from Willmann, but also part of the taste for copies from the Antique which were then very popular. Phryne reappeared in bronze and ivory with an onyx or marble base in the company of Aphrodite, Iphigenia, Pomona and others. Another early design was a figure of Carmen. These early figures had the bronze section of the figure cast at the Akt Ges Gladenbeck in Berlin. Robert Kionsek from the Gladdenbeck foundry joined PK and firm gradually expanded, having about half a dozen workers when war broke out in 1914. When the firm restarted in 1920 after the war, Preiss designed a wide variety of figures; exquisitely graceful ivory nudes, bronze and ivory bathers, dancers, couples children and historical figures. Preiss figures are the epitome of grace and elegance, the faces pretty, but with character; the costumes colorful but restrained. His series of Olympians have often been equated with the Nazi ideal by the ignorant. In fact these men and women playing tennis, throwing a javelin, holding an oar, playing golf are just health, outdoors types all date from the nineteen-twenties years before Hitler acquired any power. The Olympic Games that inspired most of these were in France where the Salons had separate and very active sections dealing with the Art of Sport. Preiss most loyal following was in England, and he showed his appreciation by carving a figure of the young Queen Elizabeth (now Elizabeth II). His skill at ivory carving is exemplified in his figure of St. George and the Dragon as well as in his ivory nudes. Preiss died in 1943 of a brain tumor. The PK firm did not survive.
Johann Philipp Ferdinand Preiss was born in Erbach (Oderwald) in Germany on the 13th of February 1882. His father owned and ran the local Preiss Hotel, while his mother came from a traditional ivory carving family. When Ferdinand was fifteen years old his father died, the Hotel was sold, and the six children dispersed among relatives and friends. Ferdinand Preiss moved in with the family of Philipp Willmann (1846 - 1910), a master ivory carver and teacher with whom he went through a thorough apprenticeship, emerging as one of the finest ivory carvers of his generation, and he remained in Willmann's studio until Easter 1901. His movements over the next few years are unknown, but by 1905 he appears to have been working for Carl Haebler in Baden-Baden after a period in Milan; AT the Haebler works he met a number of young carvers from Erbach. One co-worker, Arthur Kassler himself a Berliner went into partnership with him and they moved to Berlin, where they opened a small workshop in which they worked as turners and carvers in ivory. The firm was called Preiss and Kassler. In 1907 Preiss married Margartehe Emma Clara Hilme. I 1910 the firm took on two new carvers. Louis Kuchler and Ludwig Walther and the firm's name was shortened to PK. The earliest compositional figure by Preiss is a stauette of Phryne carved from three different woods in his son's collection. His early designs were classically inspired Grecian figures certainly part of the tradition received from Willmann, but also part of the taste for copies from the Antique which were then very popular. Phryne reappeared in bronze and ivory with an onyx or marble base in the company of Aphrodite, Iphigenia, Pomona and others. Another early design was a figure of Carmen. These early figures had the bronze section of the figure cast at the Akt Ges Gladenbeck in Berlin. Robert Kionsek from the Gladdenbeck foundry joined PK and firm gradually expanded, having about half a dozen workers when war broke out in 1914. When the firm restarted in 1920 after the war, Preiss designed a wide variety of figures; exquisitely graceful ivory nudes, bronze and ivory bathers, dancers, couples children and historical figures. Preiss figures are the epitome of grace and elegance, the faces pretty, but with character; the costumes colorful but restrained. His series of Olympians have often been equated with the Nazi ideal by the ignorant. In fact these men and women playing tennis, throwing a javelin, holding an oar, playing golf are just health, outdoors types all date from the nineteen-twenties years before Hitler acquired any power. The Olympic Games that inspired most of these were in France where the Salons had separate and very active sections dealing with the Art of Sport. Preiss most loyal following was in England, and he showed his appreciation by carving a figure of the young Queen Elizabeth (now Elizabeth II). His skill at ivory carving is exemplified in his figure of St. George and the Dragon as well as in his ivory nudes. Preiss died in 1943 of a brain tumor. The PK firm did not survive.
Bruno Zach
An Austrian sculptor, he was a prolific creator of tall, athletic, independent women in bronze and bronze and ivory. He produced highly sophisticated women dressed in leather trouser suits, insolently smoking cigarettes, high kicking can-can dancers, proud amazons, bathers clearly capable of swimming the Channel both ways without a pause, huntresses who barely needed their spear to bring down their prey. He produced couples, dancing an erotic tango in which the two bodies almost fused or a farming couple back from the fields, confidently exchanging smiles of affection; kinky images of women in slips or gartered stockings holding whip or riding crop, swirling skirted girls fighting in the wind, haughty women naked beneath a parted fur coat. He showed both the healthy, outdoor pursuits and the dream mistresses of sado-masochistic Berlin, Vienna and Paris between the wars. He also executed a small number of explicitly erotic figures. His bronze is occasionally patinated, most often cold painted. His use of ivory is spare, and always well-carved. His works were edited by several firms, including Argentor-Werke of Vienna, the Broma Companie, S Altman & Co and Bergmann. A number of his figures were imported to the United States. Several of his figures were adapted as lamps, often with cameo glass shades by Arsall. The variant signature B Zack is sometimes found.
An Austrian sculptor, he was a prolific creator of tall, athletic, independent women in bronze and bronze and ivory. He produced highly sophisticated women dressed in leather trouser suits, insolently smoking cigarettes, high kicking can-can dancers, proud amazons, bathers clearly capable of swimming the Channel both ways without a pause, huntresses who barely needed their spear to bring down their prey. He produced couples, dancing an erotic tango in which the two bodies almost fused or a farming couple back from the fields, confidently exchanging smiles of affection; kinky images of women in slips or gartered stockings holding whip or riding crop, swirling skirted girls fighting in the wind, haughty women naked beneath a parted fur coat. He showed both the healthy, outdoor pursuits and the dream mistresses of sado-masochistic Berlin, Vienna and Paris between the wars. He also executed a small number of explicitly erotic figures. His bronze is occasionally patinated, most often cold painted. His use of ivory is spare, and always well-carved. His works were edited by several firms, including Argentor-Werke of Vienna, the Broma Companie, S Altman & Co and Bergmann. A number of his figures were imported to the United States. Several of his figures were adapted as lamps, often with cameo glass shades by Arsall. The variant signature B Zack is sometimes found.
