René Letourneur

RENÉ LETORNEUR (Paris, 1898 - 1990).
"La Vague", 1974.
Relief in bronze. Exemplary 2/8.
Signed, dated and numbered.
Exhibitions: "European sculpture of the 20th century", European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM), Barcelona, 2014.
Measurements: 95 x 60 x 20 cm.
IIn 1916 he entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and began working in the workshop of Antonin Mercié. The outbreak of the First World War interrupted his training. This was not resumed until 1921, when he was re-admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts under the tutelage of Jean Boucher. That same year he was awarded the Chenavard Prize and, in 1925, the gold medal at the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs. In 1926, after being awarded the Grand Prix de Rome, he moved to the Villa Medici and lived there until 1930. The contact, first with Italian statuary, and later with Greek, determined the definitive orientation of his aesthetics. His works, especially the female nudes, draw from classical sources, in order to reflect a serene sensuality. Between 1944 and 1947 he began to work in marble, which from then on became his favorite material.