Art Deco Sculpture Athlete With Javelin By Demetre Chiparus 1930

Demétre Chiparus "Athlete with javelin". This is a large sculpture from the Art Deco period. Magnificent subject of an athlete preparing to throw his javelin, the sculpture of the movement is striking! Made in small bronze (white metal) with an antique green patina. Some slight signs of wear to the patina on the back of the sculpture. Some chips and stains on the marble base. Chiparus is the Art Deco sculptor most famous for many things, including the male athletic figure. This sculpture is a good example. Signed Darcourt on the marble base. Darcourt is a pseudonym of Chiparus. Many sculptors of the Art-Deco period in France used more than one name in their production of pieces. This involved dealings with foundries, retailers, and what they called "publishers" of their works, whereby royalties and taxes were paid. By using two or three names, they were able to maintain a certain independence in the sale of their sculptures. Chiparus' pieces are highly sought after, many being published in books on Art Deco statues. More importantly, the book Chiparus by Alberto Shayo devotes an entire page to this sculpture (page 204). Demetre H. Chiparus was born in Romania in 1886 and went to Paris before World War I to become more involved in his artistic work. He studied in Italy and at the Paris School of Fine Arts and exhibited at the Salon of 1914. Chiparus was particularly gifted in the chryselephantine technique, the combination of bronze and ivory to produce sculpture dramatic and stylized. He created most of his famous works between 1914 and 1933. Paris was an exciting place in the years before World War II, when art deco style and good times were in vogue, just as they were in the United States. His later works in the 1920s were influenced by his interest in Egypt, after the excavations of the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Some of his most exciting works feature dancers from the Russian ballet of French theater and early films. The dancers were captured in movement dressed in an Art Deco style and long and lean in appearance.