Joseph ERHARDY (1928-2012) - Lot 219

Joseph ERHARDY (1928-2012) La Combinaison, 1987 Bronze proof with dark brown patina Venturi Arte lost-wax casting Foundry stamp Artist's stamp Signed, dated and numbered on the terrace "Erhardy 1987 2/8". 34 x 12 x 8.5 cm Joseph ERHARDY (United States 1928- France 2012) Originally from West Virginia, Joseph Erhardy's family moved to Washington in 1936. After completing his military service in 1947, Joseph Erhardy began his studies at the university and concurrently at the Corcoran School of Art. In 1949, he received the G.I. Bill, a military scholarship, which enabled him to pursue his art studies in Europe. In 1949, he studied at the Florence Academy of Fine Arts, then moved to Rome, where he became assistant to sculptor Mirko Basaldella (1910-1969), himself a pupil of sculptor Arturo Martini (1889-1947) in the early 1930s. In the studio, Erhardy practiced direct carving and new materials, resins and metal, for a year, before turning to the exploration of abstract forms. In 1952, he moved to Paris and entered the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, where Ossip Zadkine taught. During the 1950s, his work was essentially abstract, with inlays of color. Many of his works from this period were lost in a fire in the 1980s. Influenced by the Nouvelle Figuration movement, Erhardy gradually abandoned abstraction in the mid-1960s, placing the human figure at the heart of his work. His works, made in plaster or terracotta, were destined for casting. He supports a return to figuration with his painter friends Sam Szafran, Philippe Roman, François Jousselin and sculptor Raymond Mason. Joseph Erhardy befriends Henri Cartier-Bresson, who takes several photographs of the artist in his studio, while his friend the sculptor Roseline Granet, the writer Raymond Aron, and the couple Sam and Lilette Szafran pose for him. He exhibited at the Third Paris Biennial in 1963 and at the Salon de la Jeune Sculpture between 1964 and 1968, as well as in Austria, the Netherlands and Italy. He had a solo show at Galerie Ariel in 1968. A second solo show was organized at Marianne and Pierre Nahon's Beaubourg gallery in 1981, with a catalog prefaced by Jean Clair of the Académie française. Galerie Vallois devoted a retrospective to him in 2016, having exhibited at the gallery since 1997. Many of Joseph Erhardy's works are in the public domain, including Retour du Marché on Place de la Préfecture in Cergy-Pontoise.