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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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A wonderful Art Deco patinated bronze and marble statuette entitled “Stella” by Maurice Guiraud-Rivière, signed Guiraud Riviere / Etling Paris, portraying a female nude, wearing a turban, her left hand stretched out, the other holding a marble ball, her left leg resting upon the opposite knee and right foot balanced upon a Star of David on a spreading and stepped circular Portoro marble base Paris, date circa 1925-30 Height 62 cm. The designer, sculptor and painter Maurice Guiraud-Rivière (1891-1967) is best known as one of the great exponents of Art Deco, of which this statuette commissioned by the Art Deco retailer Edmond Etling epitomised the spirit of that revolutionary new style which dominated art and design during the interwar period. Guiraud-Rivière was born on 10th February at Toulouse, Haute-Garonne and like many before him then travelled to Paris where he began a formal artistic training at L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He subsequently made a name exhibiting his work at the Salon des Artistes Français and at the Salon des Humoristes. As a painter Guiraud-Rivière tended to portray charming landscapes in a fresh and realistic manner. These were very different from his sculptures and designs for statuettes worked up in the full-blown Art Deco style. Other famous pieces by him from the same era included ‘La Comète’, which was also retailed by Etling and portrayed a streamlined female nude plunging earthward over stylised clouds with her hair forming a deco flame fan. The artist also designed ceramics such as ‘Venezia’, made in earthenware by Andre Fau, circa 1922 of which there is an example at Brighton Museum. In that instance the provocative female symbolising Venice reflected the great popularity during the 1920’s for the Venetian carnival. Stella was among a number of stunning statuettes by Guiraud-Rivière to be commissioned and retailed by La Société Anonyme Edmond Etling, Paris, which specialised in such works during the height of Art Deco. Edmond Etling opened his Paris show room just after the First World War from where he sold a range of works in bronze, chryselephantine (gold and ivory but also referring to bronze and ivory), glass and ceramics. Most were made by French artists, including Guiraud-Rivière as well as Démètre Chiparus (1888-1950). In his book, “Art Deco”, 1988, p. 123, A Duncan noted “Maurice Guiraud-Rivière and Marcel Bouraine worked both with bronze and ivory and with metal alone. The House of Etling, which edited most of the better quality models created by these artists, appears to have cornered the top end of the market for decorative sculpture.” The Art Deco style, which supplanted Art Nouveau, was characterised by simplicity of line, geometric forms and motifs, luxurious and contrasting materials as well as strong colour. Though the style took its name from L’Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, held in Paris 1925 it began to emerge during the 1910’s reaching its height during the roaring 1920’s but was finally extinguished by the Second World War. |