Large Baccarat Crystal Owl.

Large stylized owl sculpture in Baccarat crystal. Designed by Robert Rigot and signed at the tip. Dated 1974. Limited edition (numbered 78/200). H. 47 cm. “Nature has become Robert Rigot's interlocutor in a dialogue with matter where space and light lead him to create a bestiary with lyrical forms and a humanity of classical expression, whose movement is integrated into the fullness of the volume. An organic sculpture born from the material chosen in an intellectual approach which does not prevent the expression of the artist's sensuality. In the end, bird, ant or grasshopper emerge from a free play of constructive lines deployed in space, planes divided by voids through which light passes through the volumes, animating them with a particular vibration. For Robert Rigot, sculpture brings its question and its answer to the mystery of nature.” Lydia Harambourg. Robert Rigot was born in 1929 into a family of stonemasons. Very quickly, he showed solid skills in sculpture which he put to good use by joining the ranks of the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. It is therefore armed with a solid background that he will embark on the life of an artist. Little by little, Robert Rigot created a solid reputation and his career was marked by success. Winner of the first Grand Prix de Rome, he joined the Villa Medici as a resident between 1955 and 1959, where he became interested in other raw materials available to sculptors. Robert Rigot has never hesitated to develop his skills and by moving towards the mastery of ever more different and varied techniques and materials, he has placed his entire career under the sign of versatility. In 1966, the famous Baccarat crystal factory offered a partnership to Robert Rigot. The idea is daring because the sculptor, until then, had only worked on stone or metal, particularly bronze. The crystal factory then offers him the opportunity to learn and master an exceptional raw material: crystal. Very quickly, this will be done and Rigot will engage in the construction of a work centered around a theme: the animal world. He will be Artistic Director of Cristalleries Baccarat until 1996. Whatever the work chosen among all those created by Robert Rigot during his partnership with Baccarat, we find in its slender forms the desire to make the materials flutter, a true challenge to gravity. During the partnership between Baccarat and Robert Rigot, the artist never betrayed himself because all his creations are distinguished by this desire which, even today, ensures its creator all his fame. Among the numerous prizes he won (Gold Medal at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1986), he obtained the Grand Prix of the Council of Europe for one of his crystal works in 1990. We also know of his bronzes made in a foundry published in small series, lithographs printed by him in a maximum of twelve copies, and some glass pastes published by Daum. Robert Rigot is a corresponding member of the Institut de France. He died on June 1, 2023 at the age of 93.