Caesar, Bronze Compression, 1998

César Baldaccini known as César (1921-1998) César for the best costumes 1998 Polished bronze Cast iron Bocquel Signed “César” Bears the foundry mark “bocquel Fd. » Dated « 1998 » and bears the inscription « ACADEMIE DES ARTS ET TECHNIQUES DU CINEMA / BEST COSTUMES » H. 30 x W. 7.5 x D. 7.5 cm Provenance: Christian Gasc (1946-2022), costume designer, trophy received on the occasion of the 23rd Cesar ceremony on February 28, 1998 for the film The Hunchback directed by Philippe de Broca in 1997 César Baldaccini known as César died 25 years ago today, he is one of the artists beacons of the immediate post-war period. If his Work crosses the history of the sculpture of the 20th century through innovative gestures and a great variety of mediums, it is his compressions which made him popular and which marked the spirits. In 1976, César produced, at the request of Georges Cravenne, founder of the Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques, a first trophy depicting a male silhouette draped in film. The work does not meet with the expected success, the artist imagines a new trophy for the second edition of the ceremony in 1977. César uses here the technique of "directed" compression that he has been developing since the 1960s from industrial waste. then urban in 1976. For the César ceremony, he designed a compression that lets you guess the elements that make it up, furnishing elements, pendants, ribbons, moldings or even windings of leaves. From this matrix, the great official founder of César, Régis Bocquel, publishes each year 25 iconic statuettes in gilded and polished bronze. Georges Cravenne, as a sign of affection for his friend César and in homage to Marcel Pagnol's film of the same name, entitles both the "statuette-trophy" and the award given: César.