Jean Cardot (1930-2020) - Lot 258

Jean Cardot (1930-2020) Cavalier, 1966 Black-brown patina bronze proof, n°4/8 Lost-wax casting Claude Valsuani Foundry stamp (under right leg) Signed (under right leg): "J. CARDOT". H. 32 cm (38 cm with black marble base) Bibliography - Henry Bonnier, Jean Cardot, Paris, Adam Biro, 2000, repr. p. 88. Jean Cardot learned drawing and sculpture at an early age, encouraged by his father, a woodcarver in his spare time. He entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, then continued his training in the studios of Marcel Gaumont and Alfred Janniot at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. After winning the Second Grand Prix de Rome in 1956, he spent the next three years at Casa Velasquez. Appointed professor at the École des Beaux-Arts de Lyon shortly after his return from Spain, Cardot won the Prix Bourdelle and the Prix Brantôme in 1961. He was a regular participant in art fairs such as the Salon de Mai, the Biennale des Jeunes and the Salon de la Jeune Sculpture. Throughout his career, Cardot's work was also shown in several galleries and at numerous exhibitions in France and abroad. For ten years, between 1964 and 1974, Cardot devoted himself entirely to sculpture. He carried out several public commissions, in particular as part of the 1% artistic program. These included Taureau mourant (1967) for a high school in Saint-Etienne, La Grande Nuit (1968) for the Lycée Adrienne Bolland in Poissy, and the Monument à la Résistance et à la Déportation du Val-de-Marne (1973-1975) in Créteil. In addition to these monumental works, Cardot created smaller, more intimate pieces, such as L'envol (1961), Torse de femme and Torse d'homme (1960 to 1966), Petite Nuit (1964), Danseuse (1965), Couple s'embrassant (1968), Sereine (1969), and Cavalière (1966). Cardot returned to teaching when he was appointed head of the direct-cut sculpture workshop at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris in 1974. He taught there until 1995. Elected to the Académie de Beaux-Arts de Paris in 1983, the same year he became Inspector General of the Ateliers Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris. A tireless sculptor, Cardot's work was again recognized in 1989 with the Prix Paul Baudry from the Taylor Foundation. He continued his work until his death in 2020, gracing the streets of Paris with his monumental effigies: the monuments to Winston Churchill (1996) and Charles de Gaulle (1998) on the Champs-Élysées, and Thomas Jefferson (2003) on the Quai Anatole-France.