Charles Malfray

CHARLES MALFRAY (Orleans, 1887-Dijon, 1940).
"Le Silence. 1916.
Bronze.
Exemplary 6/8.
Signed and numbered at the bottom. Founder's stamp.
Measures: 32 cm. high.
This body folded in on itself tries to protect itself from an aggressive exterior. The figure, whose rounded volume is constrained by the bronze block, was intended as a tribute to the combatants of the First World War. With "The Silence", Charles Malfray allegorised the loneliness and powerlessness felt in the face of the violence of war. Human drama and avant-garde style come together in this subjugating piece.
Charles Malfray was a French sculptor. The son of a stonemason from Orléans, he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Orléans. At seventeen, he attended the École des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. However, he rejected the school's academic teaching and was attracted to the art of Auguste Rodin and Antoine Bourdelle, who were based in Montmartre. Malfray survived the First World War after being gassed and participating in the battle of Verdun, but was deeply affected by his experiences. Together with his brother, he created the war memorials to the dead of Pithiviers (1920) and Orleans (1924), whose modernism was much discussed. In 1920 he was awarded the Prix Blumenthal, but due to his illness as a result of the war, he was on the point of abandoning sculpture. However, in 1931, his friend Aristide Maillol appointed him his successor as professor at the Académie Ranson in Paris. During the following years, Malfray had many pupils in his studio, among them Étienne Martin, François Stahly, Nessa Cohen and Jean Le Moal. A street in Orléans is named after Rue Charles Malfray.