Three good reasons to discover the sculptures of Germaine Richier

Slender figures, irregular faces, phantasmagorical creatures… The work of sculptor Germaine Richier is as varied as it is bewitching. She who plays with materials, sometimes alternating the majesty of bronze and the fantasy of colored plaster, is honored for more than three months at the Beaubourg museum. The exhibition will then head to Montpellier, to invest the Fabre Museum from 12 July to 5 November 2023. Here are three good reasons to discover her work.

Give it back its rightful place in the history of sculpture

Does his name sound familiar? However, it’s a safe bet that you know his mentors, Rodin and Bourdelle. Or his contemporaries, like Giacometti. Germaine Richier is one of those artists who have nevertheless marked their time. British art critic David Sylvester said of her that “ No one, perhaps, occupies such a central and crucial place in contemporary sculpture as Germaine Richier. His art and teaching had a decisive impact on a whole young generation of artists, such as the sculptor César. How to explain, then, that his name resonates less? Ariane Coulondre, curator of the exhibition, analyzes it as follows:

She remains far less well known than many of her contemporaries, especially her male counterparts such as Giacometti. This will also force the art dealer Aimé Maeght to choose between him and Richier, who in fact will remain without a gallery owner for a long time. The sculptor’s premature death in 1959 and her status as a female artist may have contributed, among other things, to widening this gap.

Ariane Coulondre curator of the exhibition, modern collections department, National Museum of Modern Art

To reconnect with nature

Germaine Richier’s work is characterized by her fascination with the plants, animals and insects she collects. The artist creates surreal and poetic hybridizations: spider-woman, bat-man, grasshopper with human features… she celebrates a certain image of the osmosis that we could have with the animal, vegetable and mineral world. She invites us, perhaps, to better anchor ourselves in our environment. The exhibition is enriched with objects that inspired it: collected debris, pieces of wood, pebbles, fossils… Her works take on their full meaning in a context in which one tries in vain to reconnect with nature, where awareness ecological is more tangible and where natural disasters are on the rise.

To learn movement in a different way

What is a body in motion? This question arises throughout the exhibition. His characters defy the laws of balance, writhe and reveal themselves in their way of moving in space. Sometimes, the jagged shapes give the impression of melting and disappearing. Other times they seem almost alive, animated and ready to pounce. Germaine Richier questions our perspective, sometimes she deprives us of seeing what is hidden behind the bodies, creating backgrounds in front of which her figurines freeze. An ingenious way of anticipating and directing the gaze of the spectators.