Exhibition catalog :

Robert Couturier. Silhouettes

Catalogue of the exhibition "Robert Couturier. Silhouettes" presented at the Galerie Dina Vierny from May 24 to July 25, 2024.
Texts by Claire Maingon and Thierry Dufrêne. Foreword by Valérie Da Costa.

124 pages
bilingual French/English catalogue
Édition Galerie Dina Vierny

‘ “I don’t like things that smell like sweat,” Robert Couturier often told me, not without humour. Before adding: “Basically, sculpture annoys me in some respects.” These two sentences alone could sum up the state of mind that, over the years, has guided Robert Couturier’s sculpture in the twentieth century, a period he lived through between presence and absence according to artistic trends. He first collaborated with the architect Émile Aillaud on the Pavillon de l'Élégance for the 1937 International Exhibition of Arts and Techniques in Paris. Then a young sculptor, Couturier stood out for the audacity of his sculptures: plaster mannequins more than two meters high, impossible to dress, that Jeanne Lanvin, Elsa Schiaparelli, or Madeleine Vionnet preferred to cover with a simple roll of fabric. Roger Parry photographed him in the early 1930s, capturing the image of a crooner that was very different from the photographs we know of the sculptor. This former “disciple” of Aristide Maillol was very present on the Parisian art scene. But the master struggled to recognise the voluptuous aesthetic in his sculptures, bluntly stating, “You, Couturier, in your shoddy way, you will do very good things.” It must be noted that the young sculptor addressed the challenges of sculpture by upsetting its codes – something that couldn’t displease the master.’ (Valérie Da Costa)

20.5 x 26.5 cm
hard cover

Price : 35 €