César Baldaccini Sculptures
French, 1921-1998
César Baldaccini was born to immigrant Italian parents in Marseille and his life span was from 1921–98. He was considered to be one of the most important French artists and sculptors of the 20th century. Much of his work involved the compression of junk material and automobile material. He became associated with the 1960s Paris based Nouveau réalisme movement. Most importantly, Baldaccini just had a major retrospective at the Pompidou Center in Paris. His work is very collectible and desirable.
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Artist: César Baldaccini
Petites plaque
By César Baldaccini
Located in Malmo, SE
“Petites plaques”
Electric plates in aluminium.
Signed twice on the side and at the front.
36 x 21 x 6 cm, size with plexiglass hood: 42,5 x 30 x 14 cm.
Acquired directly from the a...
Category
1970s Contemporary César Baldaccini Sculptures
No title
By César Baldaccini
Located in Paris, FR
Sculpture, 1990
Handsigned by the artist in pencil
Compression of capsules and wires
Unique work of a series in 500 different copies
Depth: 2.30 cm
A modestly sized compression of ...
Category
1990s Abstract César Baldaccini Sculptures
Materials
Iron
Great Niçoise Compression of Different Metals Fixed on Wood Panel Wall Sculpture
By César Baldaccini
Located in Paris, FR
1970
Compression of different metals, fixed on panel
Signed, dated and situated in black felt marker at the bottom left side “César 1970 Nice”
Referenced in the Durand-Ruel Archives under No. 985
Unique artwork accompanied by the certificate from the Durand-Ruel Archives
H. 36 cm W. 20,5 cm D. 9 cm
Dimensions with panel: H. 60 cm W. 45,2 cm D. 4,8 cm
His parents, Omer and Leila Baldaccini, Italian of Tuscan origin, had a bar in Marseilles, where César was born in 1921 in the popular district of la Belle-de-Mai, at No. 71 rue Loubon, in the center. “I am basically an absolute autodidact,” he says. He first worked at his father’s, before attending in 1935 the courses of the School of Fine Arts in his hometown with his classmate Raymond Normand and, in 1943, the National School of Fine Arts in Paris with Michel Guino, Albert Féraud, Daniel David and Philippe Hiquily, like him in the studio of Marcel Gimond...
Category
1970s Post-War César Baldaccini Sculptures
Materials
Metal
Tête Eiffel pivotante
By César Baldaccini
Located in Malmo, SE
Napoléon.
(Epruve d’artiste EA 1/2)
Bocquel fondeur.
Acquired directly from the artist.
Signed by the artist.
César Baldaccini (1921 – 1998) is one of the great sculptors of the twentieth century. As a young man he took a stand for art that was firmly anchored in reality, as a counterweight to the lyrical, abstract painting of the time.
He has transformed rusty bolts, screws, scrap metal and steel wire into biomorphic sculptures depicting everything from chickens on roller skates to self-portraits of the artist. In his magical hands, metal from the junk-heap, old car parts, discarded cans and plexiglass have been compacted into delightful cubistic works of art that César himself has called “compressions”. As a kind of antithesis to these, he experimented by expanding plastics, glass, aluminium and bronze into voluptuously inflated forms known as “expansions”.
Among César’s casts of sculpted breasts, female torsos and clenched fists, it is the thumb that, above all else, has emerged as the artist’s hallmark – his own, greatly enlarged thumb in bronze. Exhibited for the first time at the Galerie Claude Bernard in Paris in 1965, today you can see it – in bronze or marble – in museums and public places all over the world. His largest bronze thumb, measuring fully 12 metres in height, stands in La Défense in Paris. In similar fashion, the artist’s signature is always accompanied by his thumb print.
Born in Marseilles in 1921, by the age of 12 César had already left school to work in his father’s wine merchants business. In 1935, however, he enrolled at the École des Beaux Arts in Marseilles. He continued his art studies in 1943 at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Paris, sharing a house for some time with Alberto Giacometti. In 1960 he was invited to join the group of artists known as “les Nouveaux Réalistes”, where he worked together with Arman, Pierre Restany, Niki de Saint Phalle, Jean Tinguely and others.
César’s genius lies in his ability to coax artistic forms from whatever materials may be at hand. “When I was a child,” he recalled, “I used to think that a sculptor was a man who chipped away at stone with a hammer and chisel. It was only later that I understood you can make sculptures from any material you choose.”
In the early 1940s César discovered the opportunities that scrap metal opened up, and his first solo exhibition, “Animaux en ferraille” (or “Scrap metal animals”), was held at the Galerie Lucien Durand...
Category
1980s Contemporary César Baldaccini Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
César Crystal Baccarat Thumb 1989 Limited Edition 42 Centimeters
By César Baldaccini
Located in Paris, FR
1989
Baccarat Crystal.
Signed and numbered at the base.
Work accompanied by its certificate issued by the Compagnie des Cristalleries Baccarat.
Work registered at the Denyse Durand-Ruel Archives under No. 3984.
César, French sculpture and member of the "Nouveau Réalisme" movement, is best known for his use of compressed cars and recycled metals. Although his work shows similarities to artists like Andy Warhol in his appropriation of commercial products, César is more interested in the formal traditions of modern sculpture, as for example through the work of Alberto Giacometti. Born César Baldaccini on January 11, 1921 in Marseille to Italian parents, he studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, graduating in 1948. “Despite my classic academic education, I entered the industrial world and learned to approach found materials according to their own language." The artist is at the origin of the creation of the bronze trophies...
Category
1980s César Baldaccini Sculptures
Materials
Glass
Napoléon
By César Baldaccini
Located in Malmo, SE
Napoléon.
(Epruve d’artiste EA 1/2)
Bocquel fondeur.
Acquired directly from the artist.
Signed by the artist.
César Baldaccini (1921 – 1998) is one of the great sculptors of the twentieth century. As a young man he took a stand for art...
Category
1980s Contemporary César Baldaccini Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
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Previously Available Items
César Crystal Baccarat Thumb 1989 Limited Edition 42 Centimeters
By César Baldaccini
Located in Paris, FR
1989
Baccarat Crystal.
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1974
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70s Daum Pate de Cristal Glass Argos Brutalist Sculpture Crystal Art Vase France
By César Baldaccini
Located in Surfside, FL
Cesar Baldaccini (1921-1998) for Daum (French (Nancy), founded 1878), circa 1970. A multi-faceted and chiseled Brutalist Pate-de-Cristal glass "Blue Argos' decanter. Signed "Daum France" near base. Initialed "CE" on bottom. Vase modèle "Argos" en cristal moulé teinté vert Nouveau Réalisme.
César (born Cesare Baldaccini, 1921 – 1998), also occasionally referred to as César Baldaccini, was a noted French sculptor. César was at the forefront of the Nouveau Réalisme movement with his radical compressions (compacted automobiles, discarded metal, or rubbish), expansions (polyurethane foam sculptures), and fantastic representations of animals and insects.
He was a French sculptor, born in 1921 of Italian parents from Tuscany in the working-class neighbourhood of la Belle-de-Mai in Marseilles. His father was a cooper and bar owner. After studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Marseilles (1935-9) he went on to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1943-8). He began making sculptures by welding together pieces of scrap metal in 1952 and first made his reputation with solid welded sculptures of insects, various kinds of animals and nudes. His first one-man exhibition was at the Galerie Lucien Durand, Paris, 1954.
His early work used soldered and welded metal as well as junk materials, and by 1960 César was considered one of France's leading sculptors. In that year, on a visit to a scrap merchant in search of metal, he saw a hydraulic crushing machine in operation, and decided to experiment with it in his sculpture. He astonished his followers by showing three crushed cars at a Paris exhibition. It was for these 'Compressions' that César became renowned. César selected particular cars for crushing, mixing elements from differently coloured vehicles. In this way he could control the surface pattern and colour scheme of the piece.
Later the same year he joined the Nouveaux Réalistes (New Realists) - Arman, Yves Klein, Raysse, Jean Tinguely, Pierre Restany, Niki de Saint Phalle, Daniel Spoerri and others who found their inspiration in urban life.
In 1965, he started to work with plastics, first with plastic moulds of human imprints, then from 1966 by pouring expanded polyurethane, which was allowed to expand and solidify. He gave up making welded-metal sculpture in 1966 and organised a series of Happenings from 1967-1970, in which he produced expansions in the presence of an audience. His later works also included sculptures made out of molten crystal.
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H 11.87 in W 5.8 in D 3.8 in
César Baldaccini sculptures for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic César Baldaccini sculptures available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by César Baldaccini in metal, bronze, glass and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large César Baldaccini sculptures, so small editions measuring 1 inch across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of SunKoo Yuh, Patrice Breteau, and Françoise Tellier Loumagne. César Baldaccini sculptures prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $7,238 and tops out at $580,000, while the average work can sell for $54,233.