Mid-Century Bookends

Wall artistic work composed of a ceramic representing several characters applied on a wooden panel.

Vase A by Cesar Baldaccini for Daum, France, 1970s, is a magnificent work of art that seamlessly combines form and function. Designed by renowned French sculptor Cesar Baldaccini, this multi-faceted vase is a stunning example of his mastery of sculptural forms. Made by renowned French glassmaker Daum, this vase features a highly polished, multi-faceted surface that reflects and refracts light in fascinating ways. The veneers are perfectly aligned and flawlessly executed, creating a breathtaking sense of depth and texture. The vase is signed "Daum France", which adds a touch of authenticity and provenance to the piece. This is a true collector's item, sought after by art lovers and collectors around the world. Functional, the Argos vase is ideal for presenting flowers or other decorative objects. Its sculptural form and multi-faceted surface create a dynamic backdrop that enhances the beauty of any arrangement. Overall, the Argos vase by Cesar Baldaccini for Daum, France, 1970s, is a masterpiece of design and craftsmanship. Its striking form, impeccable craftsmanship and exceptional provenance make it a highly coveted piece that is sure to impress and enchant anyone who sees it. Cesar Badaccini (1921-1998) His parents, Omer and Lelia Baldaccini, Italians of Tuscan origin, ran a bar in Marseille where César was born, with his twin sister Amandine, in 1921 in the popular district of Belle-de-Mai, at 71 rue Loubon, in the 3rd arrondissement1. "I am basically an absolute self-taught," he will say2. At the time, he designed and tinkered with carts for his little brother with cans. Nevertheless, after first working for his father (he also helped a butcher neighbor for a meager salary after leaving school at the age of twelve), he followed the courses of the École supérieure des beaux-arts de Marseille from 1935 to 1939; in 1937, he obtained three prizes, in engraving, drawing and architecture3. Not mobilized during the war (he also escaped the STO), he lived on scams before settling in Paris to be admitted, in 1943, to the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts with Michel Guino, Albert Féraud, Daniel David, Eugène Dodeigne and Philippe Hiquily, like him in the workshop of Marcel Gimond. In 1945, he returned to Marseille to marry Maria Astruc, with whom he set up a business (they divorced in 1959). He returned to Paris in 1946 where he occupied a studio in an old brothel at 21 rue de l'Échaudé, whose rooms, following the Marthe Richard law, had been assigned to students4. There he met Émilenne Deschamps, who would later become one of his muses. Faced with the impossibility for him to work the stone, because of its cost, he turned to other materials3. From 1947, he worked on plaster and iron. In 1949, he was introduced to arc welding in an industrial carpentry in Trans-en-Provence and used lead in pushed sheets and welded iron wires. In 1951, he visited Pompeii and remained marked by the casts of the bodies of the inhabitants caught in the lava3. In 1952, he used inexpensive recovered materials and made his first sculptures in welded scrap metal: his means were then still modest. Thus, for lack of money and to afford marble, César will recover in the scrap dumps the materials of his first sculptures: tubes, bolts, screws that become insects or end up in the powerful curves of the Venus de Villetaneuse (1962). In 1954, he exhibited at the Lucien Durand gallery in Paris and obtained the "collabo" prize for a sculpture entitled Le Poisson5, made in Villetaneuse, a city where he worked for a dozen years thanks to the help of a local industrialist, Léon Jacques6. He gained fame when his work was bought for 100,000 francs in 1955 by the State for the National Museum of Modern Art7. The same year, he exhibited at the Salon de Mai. The following year, the MNAM bought Chauve-souris from 1954 and the museum of modern art in the city of Paris Le scorpion from 1955. From 1954 (Torse, MOMA), he also made sculptures in welded metal, then in partially polished bronze, of busty women (Ginette, 1958, Victoire de Villetaneuse, 1965). In 1956, he participated in the Venice Biennale then in the São Paulo Biennale and in the Documenta II in 1959. In 1958, he signed a contract with the Parisian gallery Claude Bernard3. In 1961, he approached Marino di Teana and joined the group of Nouveaux réalistes, a movement founded by art critic Pierre Restany8, including Arman, Jean Tinguely, Niki de Saint Phalle and Gérard Deschamps. When he could afford a workshop in 1957, rue Campagne-Première in Paris, he married Rosine Groult-Baldaccini (met at the Beaux-Arts in 1948) with whom he had a daughter, Anna, a year later. He also begins to frequent the world of the In 1968, he created at the National Manufacture of Sèvres a porcelain Ashtray published in fifty copies. Made of porcelain with a semi-matt pearly cover, it represents a plaster mold used for the production of the pieces, and was produced from an original aluminum model. In 1971, during a premiere at the Lido, he found more media than him: Salvador Dalí, the master of extravagance. He debates the same year in Italiques with François Truffaut, Lucien Bodard and Asher Ben...

Art Deco solid bronze Hagenauer Style Bookends.

This is a magnificent set of handmade bookends of high quality design and workmanship. They are distinguished by a very natural structure of the material and a simple, even ascetic ...