RENÉ LETORNEUR (Paris, 1898 - 1990). "La Vague"... Lot 35

RENÉ LETORNEUR (Paris, 1898 - 1990). "La Vague" (1974). Relief in bronze. Copy 2/8. Signed, dated and numbered. Exhibitions: "European sculpture in the 20th century", European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM), Barcelona, 2014. Size: 95 x 60 x 20 cm. In 1916 he entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and began working in the studio of Antonin Mercié. The outbreak of the First World War interrupted his training. He did not resume his training until 1921, when he was re-admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts under the tutelage of Jean Boucher. That same year he won the Chenavard Prize and, in 1925, the gold medal at the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs. In 1926, after being awarded the Grand Prix de Rome, he moved to the Villa Medici and lived there until 1930. His contact, first with Italian and then with Greek statuary, determined the definitive direction of his aesthetic. His works, especially the female nudes, draw on classical sources in order to reflect a serene sensuality. Between 1944 and 1947 he began to work in marble, which became his favourite material from then on.