Jean-René Gauguin

Zébu, 1916, bronze, 19,3 x 30 x 11 cm.Private collection.Photo : A. Leprince. © ADAGP Paris 2014

Exhibition around sculptor and ceramist Jean-René Gauguin (1881-1961)

Born in Paris in 1881, the fourth child of Paul Gauguin and his wife Mette Sophie Gad, Danish-French artist Jean-Rene Gauguin had a prolific career as a sculptor and ceramist until his death in 1961.Jean René Gauguin was an active and prolific ceramist and sculptor from 1910 until shortly before his death in 1961. His ceramic pieces were made in collaboration with Sleiss of Gmunden (Austria), Bing & Grondahl (Copenhagen) and the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres (Paris). His earliest works were woodcarvings, however they rapidly evolved into bronze castings of athletes, dancers, centaurs, and classically-inspired male and female torsos.His work interpreted the vibrant and bright color spectrum used by Scandinavian painters from the early years of the 20th century onto stoneware. His formal language drew connection between erotism and fantasy. In his depiction of underwater worlds, he excelled in phantasmagorical and grotesque illustrations. His technical prowess with glazed figural stoneware remains unparalleled to this day and so do his experiments in polychrome glaze.The pagan cultures of China and Peru were among his many sources of inspiration. With his mastery of the human figure, he brought musicians, storytellers, athletes, dancers and jockeys to life; and his comprehension of animal movement gave shape to a whole menagerie of real and imagined beasts.Organised by the Cultural Department of the Embassy of Denmark in partnership with La piscine, Museum of Art and Industry André Diligent, Roubaix.