Marcel André Bounaire

MARCEL ANDRÉ BOURAINE (France, 1886 - 1948).
"Ballerina", c. 1930.
Gilded bronze and Portoro marble base.
Presents stamp of the foundry; Marcel Guillemard.
Signed "Matto".
Measurements: 54,5 x 18 x 8,5 cm.
Art Deco bronze sculpture representing a dancer was created by Matto, pseudonym of the French sculptor Marcel-André Bouraine. Made by the Marcel Guillemard foundry. The golden patina enhances the stylized movement typical of Art Deco. The sculpture is signed "Matto" and is in very good condition. A superb example of French sculpture of the 1930s.
Marcel Bouraine trained with J.A.J. Falguiere, who had reintroduced and emphasized realism in nineteenth-century French sculpture. Captured in Germany during World War I and imprisoned in Switzerland, after the war he resumed his artistic activity, and held an exhibition in 1922 in Paris, at the Tuileries Salon. The following year he began his participation in the Salon d'Automne. He also exhibited frequently with the groups La Stele and L'Evolution. He made small format figures for several French firms, among them Le Verrier, Susse Freer and Arthur Goldscheider. Among his most important pieces are those made for the Paris International Exhibition of 1937. Occasionally he signed with the pseudonyms "Briand" and "Derenne". It is represented at the Art Institue of Chicago and the Corning Museum of Glass (New York), among others, as well as in various private collections.