Art Deco Bas Relief By Lucien Gibert (1904-1988)

Superb plaster bas-relief from the Art Deco period depicting a naked woman languid under a laurel tree. Dimensions: 23 x 20.5 cm Work signed lower right GIBERT for Lucien GIBERT, one of the most famous French sculptors of Art Deco. From the artist's studio (known provenance). Absolutely magnificent! Not to be missed! Lucien Gibert was born on June 21, 1904 in Saint-Étienne. He entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Saint-Étienne and then the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, in the studio of Jean Boucher. He then worked under the direction of Charles Despiau, but Aristide Maillol remained his reference. Faithful to the human figure, he worked wood, stone and marble, often in direct carving. The journalist and director of the magazine Le Peintre Jean Chabanon wrote: "This artist, who focuses especially on the female model [...] thus asserts himself as a sculptor worthy of the antique, heir to Rodin and Bourdelle, Maillol and Despiau, emulator of Georges Oudot and Volti. His mastery and talent qualify him to put a serious beauty on places and medals, in our stadiums and in our museums." He exhibited from 1923 at the Salon des artistes français and the Salon des indépendants. He received the gold medal at the 1937 Universal Exhibition. Laureate and scholarship holder of French Equatorial Africa in 1948, he traveled first to Algeria, then to black Africa and brought back sketches and photographs inspiring many sculptures that he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français. His groups with massive stone figures adorn the stadiums of Charléty, La Courneuve, and rue Championnet. He completed numerous state commissions, such as Jeune Fille du Sud, exhibited at the Montpellier Museum, Algerian Dancer for the Overseas France Museum or Offrande, Femme au bas, Maternité… for the Paris Museum of Modern Art. He is also the author of more than two hundred medals for the Monnaie de Paris. He died on March 23, 1988 in the 13th arrondissement of Paris and is buried in the Père-Lachaise cemetery (division 61). Lucien Gibert was named a knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor and then promoted to officer of the same order and made a commander of the National Order of Merit.