César (born Cesare Baldaccini; 1 January 1921 – 6 December 1998), also occasionally referred to as César Baldaccini (), was a French
sculptor
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
.
César was at the forefront of the
Nouveau réalisme movement with his radical compressions (compacted automobiles, discarded metal, or rubbish), expansions (polyurethane foam sculptures), and fantastic representations of animals and insects.
Biography
He was a French sculptor, born in 1921 to Italian parents from
Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence.
Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...
in the working-class neighbourhood of la Belle-de-Mai in
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
. His father was a
cooper and bar owner. After studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Marseille (1935–1939) he went on to the
Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1943–1948). He began making sculptures by welding together pieces of scrap metal in 1952 and first made his reputation with solid welded sculptures of insects, various kinds of animals and nudes.
His first one-man exhibition was at the Galerie
Lucien Durand
Lucien is a male given name. It is the French form of Luciano (disambiguation), Luciano or Latin ''Lucianus'', patronymic of Lucius.
People
Given name
*Lucien, 3rd Prince Murat (1803–1878), French politician and Prince of Pontecorvo
*Lucien ...
, Paris, 1954.
His early work used soldered and welded metal as well as junk materials, and by 1960 César was considered one of France's leading sculptors. In that year, on a visit to a scrap merchant in search of metal, he saw a hydraulic crushing machine in operation, and decided to experiment with it in his sculpture. He astonished his followers by showing three crushed cars at a Paris exhibition. It was for these 'Compressions' that César became renowned. César selected particular cars for crushing, mixing elements from differently coloured vehicles. In this way he could control the surface pattern and colour scheme of the piece.
Later the same year he joined the
Nouveaux Réalistes (New Realists) –
Arman
Arman (November 17, 1928 – October 22, 2005) was a French and American artist. Born Armand Fernandez in Nice, France, Arman was a painter who moved from using objects for the ink or paint traces they leave (''cachets'', ''allures d'objet'') t ...
, Klein, Raysse, Tinguely,
Pierre Restany and others who found their inspiration in urban life.
In 1965, he started to work with plastics, first with plastic moulds of human imprints, then from 1966 by pouring expanded
polyurethane
Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) is a class of polymers composed of organic chemistry, organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethane term ...
, which was allowed to expand and solidify. He gave up making welded-metal sculpture in 1966 and organised a series of Happenings from 1967 to 1970, in which he produced expansions in the presence of an audience. His later works also included sculptures made out of molten crystal.
In 1995, he was asked to paint a McLaren F1 GTR that participated in the famous
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...
. The car Chassis GTR5 is still in the livery created by César, and represents the only 'Art Car" based on the iconic Mclaren.
He is the creator of the
César du cinéma trophy, which is awarded to the best in French cinema.
He was made ''Chevalier'' (Knight) of the
Légion d'honneur
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
on 22 January 1978 and promoted ''Officier'' (Officer) in 1993.
He married Rosine and had one daughter.
He died in Paris in December 1998. Following his death there was an extended dispute over his will between his widow and daughter on the one hand and
Stéphanie Busuttil, his companion at the time of his death, on the other.
Works on public display
Examples of César's work can be seen in the permanent collection of le Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou (''Bas relief'','' Tortue'', ''le Diable'') and the Musée d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris (Facel Véga). He also designed his own grave at the
Montparnasse Cemetery
Montparnasse Cemetery () is a cemetery in the Montparnasse quarter of Paris, in the city's 14th arrondissement of Paris, 14th arrondissement. The cemetery is roughly 47 acres and is the second largest cemetery in Paris. The cemetery has over 35,00 ...
, on the esplanade de
La Défense
La Défense () is a major business district in France's Paris metropolitan area, west of the city limits. It is located in Île-de-France region's Departments of France, department of Hauts-de-Seine in the Communes of France, communes of Courbe ...
(''Le Pouce''), in Marseille on the avenue de Hambourg near the MAC and the Bonneveine Centre (''Le Pouce Géant'').
One of his most iconic pieces, ''Conserve expansion - Martial Raysse'' (1970-1972), is at the Museo Cantonale d'Arte in
Lugano
Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...
.
''
The Flying Frenchman'' was installed in Hong Kong in the early 1990s.
Sources
*
Ronald Alley
Ronald Edgar Alley (12 March 1926 – 25 April 1999) was a British art historian and curator. He was keeper of the modern collection at the Tate Gallery, London from 1965 to 1986.
Ronald Alley was born in Bristol on 12 March 1926 and educated ...
, Catalogue of the Tate Gallery's Collection of Modern Art other than Works by British Artists, Tate Gallery and Sotheby Parke-Bernet, London 1981, p. 99.
*
Le Monde
(; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...
, 12 January 2008
References
External links
National Galleries of Scotland WebsiteMedia Art Net , César (Baldaccini, César): Biography*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldaccini, Cesar
1921 births
1998 deaths
Sculptors from Marseille
French people of Italian descent
French contemporary artists
People of Tuscan descent
Officers of the Legion of Honour
Nouveau réalisme artists
Academic staff of the École des Beaux-Arts
Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery
Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale
20th-century French sculptors
20th-century French male artists
French male sculptors