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A newlywed living in the countryside, Marguerite de Bayser-Gratry first took up sculpting in clay as a hobby. She quickly discovered her talent after creating a portrait of her dog and continued to sculpt in various media such as marble, onyx and bronze for the rest of her life. After moving to Paris, she received the Grand Prize at the 1925 Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, and went on to study with recognized artists of the time such as Charles Despiau, Mateo Hernandez and François Pompon, developing a love for depicting animals. She worked and exhibited continuously, refining her style in the 1920s to become a devotee to the modernist movement. Although remaining primarily a realist sculptor throughout her career, de Bayser-Gratry sometimes blurred the boundaries between the figural and abstract. Her fish series veers toward abstraction as she examines form and line, as can be seen in the ‘Sole’ sculpture offered here.
MARGUERITE DE BAYSER-GRATRY (1881-1975)
'SOLE', A SCULPTURE CIRCA 1945
Details
MARGUERITE DE BAYSER-GRATRY (1881-1975)
'SOLE', A SCULPTURE CIRCA 1945
onyx d'Algerie
9 in. (22.8 cm.) high, 16 in. (40.7 cm.) wide, 3 1/8 in. (8 cm.) deep
'SOLE', A SCULPTURE CIRCA 1945
onyx d'Algerie
9 in. (22.8 cm.) high, 16 in. (40.7 cm.) wide, 3 1/8 in. (8 cm.) deep
Provenance
Marguerite de Bayser-Gratry, Paris;
Thence by descent.
Thence by descent.
Literature
J. Michel, Marguerite de Bayser-Gratry Catalogue Raisonné, Paris, 2010, p. 289 for this example shown in situ in the Salon des Artist Décorateurs in 1945, p. 214 for this model shown in plaster and bronze.
Exhibited
Paris, Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, 1945;
Paris, Galerie Bernheim Jeune, 1952 and 1962.
Paris, Galerie Bernheim Jeune, 1952 and 1962.