Raymond Martin

RAYMOND MARTIN (Paris, 1910-1992).
"Le vaincu".
Bronze, ed. 1/8.
Signed. With stamp of the Alexis Rudier foundry.
Measurements: 48 x 24 x 40 cm.

From 1927 to 1929, he perfected his skills at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, in the studio of Jules Coutan. In 1932, he held his first exhibition at the Galerie Paquereau, on rue Guénégaud in Paris. Official recognition was not long in coming: his Bust of Mergier was acquired by the City of Paris. He achieved similar success at the Salon d'Automne (of which he would later become a member) with the purchase by the State of his Head of Eve in bronze . Recognizing his son's talent, his father had a studio built for him in Cachan, rue Auguste Rodin, where he would live for the rest of his life. That same year, 1932, he received the Blumenthal Prize. Raymond Martin exhibited annually at the Tuileries Salon from 1941. In 1944, he was appointed professor at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris until 1951. At the same time, he was elected professor at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, a position he held until 1978.
In 1950, he created the Monument to General Mangin at the foot of the church of Saint-François Xavier in Paris. State commissions followed one after the other, as did exhibitions. Raymond Martin was elected member of the Academy of Fine Arts in 1962, succeeding the sculptor Henri Bouchard. From 1965 to 1969, he worked on the project of the Monument to General Leclerc for the Porte d'Orleans in Paris. In 1973, on the occasion of the head of state's seventieth birthday, Tunisia entrusted him with the realization of an equestrian statue for the Monument to President Habib Bourguiba and a fountain, erected in Sfax.
In 1981, he contributed to the architectural design of the square in front of the Orleans Cathedral. Later, in 1982, the sculptor created two sculptures, Summer and Winter, in the arcade of the new Senate building on Rue Garancière in Paris. The municipality of Cachan acquired his bronze sculpture The Encounter , a nude couple embracing a small child, which was erected in front of the post office of the housing complex designed by architect Louis Arretche.
The year 1985 was marked by three important exhibitions: "Raymond-Martin at the Monnaie de Paris", "Raymond-Martin at the Musée Despiau-Wlérick" in Mont-de-Marsan and "Raymond-Martin in Cachan". In 1987, he received the Byzantium Prize for one of his most important works: " Man with a trophy ", erected in the town hall of Cachan. 1989 was an important year with the exhibition "Paris-Moscow" in Moscow, the exhibition "French Sculpture, from Rodin to the present day" in Fontainebleau and the inauguration of the bas-reliefs of Marcel Dassault's private mansion on the Champs Elysées in Paris.
In 1990, Raymond Martin participated in the exhibition "French Sculpture of Our Time" in Versailles. Two years later, the bust of Michel Faré was inaugurated at the School of Professions of the Cultural and Art Market (ICART). Raymond Martin passed away on February 3, 1992.