DUPREY (Jean-Pierre). Lot n° 137

Bas-relief. ORIGINAL WORK IN METAL AND CEMENT. 1955. In a wood mount. 74 x 57 cm. Handwritten by the artist on the back of the frame: Jean-Pierre Duprey vente au profit de Benjamin Péret Hôtel Drouot June 25, 1959. The work subsequently belonged to Patrick Waldberg (labels on the back), perhaps acquired during the solidarity sale for which Duprey had offered it. Exhibition: Cologne, Galerie Baukunst, Der Geist des Surrealismus, October-November 1971, no. A 30 (label on back). Provenance: Patrick Waldberg. In 1950, Jean-Pierre Duprey gave up writing for a while to devote himself to sculpture. Between 1950 and 1954, he created a large number of sculptures in wrought and welded iron, which he called "objêtres", before moving on to works in iron and cement in 1957: Duprey pours cement into the hollows of his reliefs and pedestal sculptures. Duprey continued to evolve, creating heavier, more massive, more compact works; sculptures and bas-reliefs in cement, as if to freeze the original chaos, life in the process of blossoming or becoming engulfed in matter. Jean-Pierre Duprey's plastic work also includes paintings and drawings. Attached is the catalog of the solidarity sale in aid of the poet Benjamin Péret, Me Rheims, Drouot, June 25, 1959, where the painting was described under no. 136.