Paul Silvestre / Susse Frères: Bronze Bust - Circa 1925

Spectacular Art Deco bust of a woman circa 1925 in bronze with an antique green patina. This is a lost wax casting, signed SILVESTRE, cast in the SUSSE frères workshops in Paris (founder's stamp). The Roaring Twenties style, with this plated and wavy "boyish" cut, is particularly striking. The carefree nature of those years can be seen in the smile of this young girl. A space is provided on the front base of this piece, in order to affix a plaque. A work of great beauty, monumental, of very high quality. 45 cm Height 16 x 19 cm on the base Paul Silvestre was born in Toulouse, where his father was a carpenter. He was admitted in 1905 to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in the workshops of Antonin Mercié and Antonin Carlès. Admitted on the second attempt for the Prix de Rome in 1906, he moved up to third box in 1907 and first in 1908. In 1911, he was awarded the second Grand Prix and the Prix Desprez, then the first Grand Prix de Rome in 1912. He exhibited regularly from 1921 at the Salon des Artistes Français, where he won a gold medal in 1930. A member outside the competition of the Société des Artistes Français, he received an honorary diploma for the 1937 International Exhibition of Arts and Techniques in Paris for his four steles decorating the facade of the Languedoc-Pyrénées pavilion. He was named a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1906.