« Time inevitably passes, it cannot do otherwise. My sculptures are timeless human signs, because their only purpose is to give pleasure. »
Pierre Székely, Paris, 1998
Pierre Székely : “Sculptor-Architect”
Hungarian-born sculptor naturalized French by André Malraux, Pierre Székely (1923-2001) figures among the artists who have successfully mastered the art of assemblage with elementary forms. Discs, cones, cylinders or parallelepipeds are superimposed, balanced or intertwined to produce powerful and significant compositions, neither abstract nor figurative.
He discovered stonework in a labour camp during the war. In 1946, he moved to the Paris suburbs with his wife, the ceramist Véra Székely (1919-1994). His artistic practice began with the creation of drawings, stone, ceramic, wood and metal objects, as well as cult objects. In 1951, with his friend André Borderie (1923-1998), he joined the Groupe Espace, founded by the director of the magazine l’Architecture d’aujourd’hui André Bloc (1896-1966) and the painter Félix del Marle (1889-1952), with the aim of promoting “the harmonious development of human activities”, in order to define a new framework, better adapted to the requirements and constraints of modern life. He was one of the pioneers of sculpture-architecture in France and contributed significantly to its international influence.
Pierre Székely (1923-2001)
Vol statique
Granite
1985
Height 30 cm – Length 26 cm – Depth 25 cm
2 000 / 3 000 €
Pierre Székely (1923-2001)
Black and white love
Marble
1992
Height 35 cm – Length 48 cm – Depth 28 cm
4 000 / 6 000 €
A Revolutionary Method
Pierre Székely invented in 1966 a revolutionary process of cutting granit by “supersonic flame”, developed with engineers from the Air Liquide company. Granit is, among natural materials, the most difficult to work with due to its hardness.
He also founded the European Institute of Granit Technology, to promote the knowledge and use of granit in all its forms and in the different fields of art, science and industry. The first practical workshop of the Institute was organized in 1978 in a quarry in Bretagne. Young artists from various countries were invited and participated in the realization of “The Free Man”, exhibited the same year at La Défense in Paris, as part of the first International Biennial of Street Arts.
Pierre Székely (1923-2001)
L’Homme de granit
Granit polychrome
1998
Height 255 cm – Length 360 cm – Depth 205 cm
20 000 / 30 000 €
Pierre Székely and Japan
In the 1960s and 1970s, Székely mainly created monumental concrete sculptures for public spaces. His most famous works include the sculpture “La Spirale” at the University of Nanterre, the sculpture “Le Signal” at La Défense in Paris and the sculpture “Le Soleil” at the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie.
In the 80s Pierre Székely spends a lot of time in Japan. He is interested in Far-Eastern philosophy and Japanese culture, which then deeply mark his iconography. The advanced technique of the Japanese marble industry also had a great effect on his own granite working technique.
He multiplied his stays in the Breton quarries to perfect and teach this technique to many Japanese students. A major retrospective exhibition was held at the Monnaie de Paris in 1982 with nearly 500 works on display. In 1998, 11 of his works entered the collections of the Centre Pompidou and he was awarded the Legion of Honor for his work in 1998.
Pierre Szekely (1923-2001)
Sculpture Little Paradise
Granite, quartz and ruby
Height 9 cm – Length 8 cm – Width 5 cm
800 / 1200 €
The pink granit of Perros-Guirec
In 1982, while working on a monumental sculpture of more than 5 meters high, “The Monument for Peace”, for the city of Budapest, Pierre Székely discovered, during his quest for large blocks of pink granit, the quarries of La Clarté (near Perros-Guirec) and befriended the owners: Christian Gad and Daniel Chhe.
The mutual friendship and respect will last until Pierre Székely’s death in 2001. Pierre was welcomed by Daniel Chhe’s family each time he came to Perros-Guirec.
Pierre Székely made La Clarté pink granit famous around the globe. More than a hundred of his creations are presented in eleven countries and seven capitals.
“Monumental sculptures would not be possible without the men of granite. They are often forgotten, yet they would not be possible without them (…) and all the anonymous people who helped me to assemble the 60-metre high blocks (…) I do not forget them, nor our environment which has been preparing these blocks for our use for 200,000 years, nor the erosion which forms its crust.”
Pierre Székely (1923-2001)
Nu primitif
Pink granit of Clarity and gemstone
1986
Height 192 cm – Length 133 cm – Depth 62 cm
15 000 / 20 000 €
Daniel Chhe, friend and collector
Daniel Chhe collected with particular interest the works of the Master and the pupils until his accidental and premature death in his quarry. His collection consisted of nearly 60 works of all sizes. His heirs now part with two monumental sculptures in Perros-Guirec park, one of which is more than 2.5 metres high and 3 metres wide, and three small sculptures that Pierre Székely had named “interior sculptures”. These small works are polychrome and are for some composite. The artist takes advantage of the surprising and inimitable appearances of raw materials (textures, veins, transparencies, accidents, etc.) to give them this shape that is neither figurative nor abstract but “meaningful”, specific to his repertoire.
Tajan will sell a set of six sculptures from this collection. Two monumental sculptures: L’Homme de Granit and Nu Primitif by Pierre Székely, three pieces from the “interior sculptures” series and a work by the Japanese master Kiyoshi Takahashi. This sculpture in pink granit is the model of the monumental work created for the house of Traouïéro, the sculpture Hommage à la clarté of Perros-Guirec.
Kiyoshi Takahashi (1925-1996)
Maquette de l’Hommage à la clarté
Pink granit
1981
AUCTION’S INFORMATIONS
Decorative art & design of the 20e century
June 28 2023
Tajan, 37 rue des Mathurins 75008 Paris
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