By Jim Ritchie
Located in Wiscasett, ME
Bronze on polished stone base, signed and edition numbered. The sculpture stands 12" tall including the base. Edition 4/9 Medium: bronze
Canadian, b. 1929 James Edward Ritchie (Jim Ritchie) born in Montreal, Canada, he is known for his pastel drawings and bronze sculptures. He is stylistically linked with Cubism, Abstract figurative work, and modernism, and the human figure is the subject of much of his work. Ritchie had several exhibitions in Montreal before moving to the small town of Vence in Provence, where he lived and worked for over thirty years. The Adelson Galleries in New York began representing him in 1980, where he had 2 solo exhibitions. Over the next twenty years, Warren Adelson arranged exhibitions of his work in Boston, Los Angeles, and the Miami Art Fair. He has had a sixty-year career in sculpting, and now shows his work locally and has a permanent collection of his sculptures at the Mas d L’Ormée in Vence. ARTIST NOTE: “When I first started casting my bronzes in Pietrasanta, I did editions of 6 with 2 artist’s proofs. I began at Fonderia Tomazzi, where I did only a few pieces. The same is true for Fonderia Tesconi. After moving to Fonderia Mariani and Ballfiore in 1972, my editions remained at 6 until approximately 1980 when I started to cast editions of 8 with 4 artist’s proofs, the intentionally recognized legal limit, after which the mould is destroyed. In the year 2000, I moved to Fonderia d’Arte del Chiaro and have stayed with them. All my bronzes have remained editions of 8 with 4 artist’s proofs. Since I stopped direct carving in marble in the 1980’s, I have worked with wax, making maquettes, which vary in size, but are about 30 centimeters in height. These are cast in bronze but are also used when I do them in larger sizes, in marble and other stones. As a general rule, I do an intermediate carving in stone that is three times the size of the original maquette, before doing a large carving, as the margin of error from 30 centimeters to 2 or 3 meters is too great. From these enlargements in stone, I make moulds which are used in the casting of bronzes the same size. The stone carvings are all unique pieces that I’ve signed and dated. The bronze castings are all done in numbered editions of 8 with 4 artit’s proofs. Normally, for a new edition, I cast only two or three of the edition. When these are sold, I cast two more, etc. Many of my bronze editions have not been cast in their entirety for obvious reasons, as I move on to new pieces. Therefore, they are not dated. I decided to omit all dimensions, since often, when a maquette is shown in a photo, it’s the same as the enlargement. The bronzes are all signed and numbered by me. I have never done an edition that exceeds the legal 8 with artist’s proofs. My marble carvings are all done at Studio Angeli, in Pietrasanta. I continue to work with Giorgio Angeli for my marble enlargements and have done so since 1972. SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS: 1957, Galerie Libre, Montreal 1962, Grafton Gallery, London 1962, Broadway Gallery, Worcestershire 1963, Klinkhoff Gallery, Montreal 1964, Madden Gallery, London 1965, Galerie Minotaure, Vence 1966, Galerie Martal, Montreal 1966, Alwin Gallery, London 1968, Pollock Gallery, Toronto 1968-1970, Moos Gallery, Montreal 1972, Waddington Gallery, Montreal 1975,Galerie Bernard Desroches, Montreal 1987, Galerie L’Art Francais, Montreal 1988, Galerie Alphonse Chave, Vence 1988, Coe-Kerr Gallery, New York 1989, Feingarten Galleries, Los Angeles 1992, Pucker Gallery...
Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Maine - Sculptures