Parvine CURIE (1936) [FRANCE] - Lot 47

Parvine CURIE (1936) [FRANCE] Mère-citadelle, circa 1973 Three-part proof sculpture in bronze with green-brown patina. Signed and numbered 1/6 at bottom and founder's stamp "C. Valsuani fondeurs, Paris". Dimensions of the three pieces combined: 44 x 51 x 40 cm (Scratches and micro-stains) Exhibition : Galerie Françoise Tournié, 1973 Provenance : Françoise Tournié Collection By descent to current owner From the 1960s onwards, Parvine Curie became familiar with working with iron, bronze, cut aluminum and repoussé metal. In May 1968, she created her first Mères, the first of which was exhibited at the Salon de la Jeune Sculpture in the Luxembourg Gardens. Mère mur, Mère forteresse, Mère colonne and Mère croix followed, the series being exhibited by Suzanne de Cönninck at the Centre d'Intégration des Arts in 1968. These sculptures, part figure, part architecture, are strongly inspired by the places visited by this great traveller. Always firmly anchored in the ground, the sculptures tend towards elevation and a strong aspiration towards spirituality. With a line both raw and delicate, Parvine expresses her artistic reflection on the quest for absolute refuge, which Parvine Curie expresses as follows: "Sculpture is those hours, those days of another quality, when we create through the earth: a refuge too, a dwelling, a labyrinth, in search of a center." This series contributed to the artist's international reputation. In 1980, a version of Mère cathédrale, in exotic wood, was purchased by the city of Paris, and in 1988, the Élysée bought Mère couloirs, a presidential gift for German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. In 2021, Parvine Curie is honored at the Centre Georges Pompidou in the exhibition Elles font l'abstraction with the work "Mère matmata 1975-1977", in 2019 three important wood sculptures enter the Centre Pompidou collections and a Sentier Parvine Curie is inaugurated at the Musée de Meudon. In 2023, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Troyes will devote a major retrospective to her work, and the Galerie Pierre Alain Challier will dedicate several exhibitions to her, notably in 2018 and 2022. Lot presented in collaboration with Artexpertise.fr