90

JEAN CHAUVIN FERTILITÉ, 1920S INSCRIBED "CHAUVIN"; LACQUERED WOOD ON WOODEN BASE 187/8 IN. (48 CM...

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA
JEAN CHAUVIN FERTILITÉ, 1920S INSCRIBED  CHAUVIN ; LACQUERED WOOD ON WOODEN BASE 187/8 IN. (48 CM...
JEAN CHAUVIN
FERTILITÉ, 1920S
INSCRIBED "CHAUVIN"; LACQUERED WOOD ON WOODEN BASE
187/8 IN. (48 CM) HIGH
ESTIMATE: $35,000-45,000
PROVENANCE
GALERIE JEANNE BUTLER, PARIS, 1941
DR. HELMUT BECK, STUTTGART
SOTHEBY'S LONDON, IMPRESSIONIST &
MODERN ART, OCTOBER 22, 2002, LOT 143
JEAN CHAUVIN WAS A STUBBORN, RECLUSIVE INDIVIDUALIST. WORKING VERY PRIVATELY IN PARIS SINCE THE 1920S, HE DEVISED AN APPROACH TO SCULPTURE THAT WAS AT ONCE CHARACTERISTIC OF HIS TIMES AND HIGHLY PERSONAL. HIS FORMS ARE ABSTRACT AND ECHO THE EXPERIMENTS OF OTHER SCULPTORS, ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS OF THE 1920S WHO CREATED A DISTINCT VISUAL LANGUAGE THAT IS SOMEHOW SPECIFIC TO THAT ERA. HIS WORKS, HOWEVER, ARE MORE THAN FORMAL EXERCISES AND SUCCEED AS SENSUAL AND HIGHLY EXPRESSIVE ARTIFACTS. CHAUVIN LOVED TO WORK IN RICH WOODS, CARVING SHAPES THAT INVITE A TACTILE ENGAGEMENT AND SUGGEST A POWERFUL AND BARELY CONTAINED ENERGY.
CHAUVIN SHUNNED PUBLICITY AND HIS ŒUVRE WAS LITTLE KNOWN AND LARGELY FORGOTTEN UNTIL ITS REDISCOVERY IN THE EARLY 1970S BY LEGENDARY AMERICAN COLLECTOR ROBERT WALKER. WALKER ACQUIRED A NUMBER OF HIS WORKS INCLUDING UNIQUE WOOD SCULPTURES AND PLASTER MAQUETTES DESTINED TO BE CAST IN BRONZE, AND HE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN AWAKENING AN AWARENESS OF CHAUVIN'S SIGNIFICANCE AS A GIFTED ARTIST FINELY IN TUNE WITH THE AVANT-GARDE ARTS OF THE 1920S.