Yves Suzanne (1953-), Stannisfere Enamel Lamp Colored With Manganese, Circa 1970

Lamp in manganese-coloured stanniferous enamel on red Beck earth, signed below. Work from the 1970s Ceramic height 29 cm and 47 cm total height Ceramicist based in Indre et Loire, active from 1975 to 1989. Born in 1953 in Ligueil (Indre-et-Loire), with a degree in economics, Yves Suzanne became interested in ceramics in 1972 and decided in 1975 to take a new path, that of Earth until 1989. In 1984, he explained to La Revue de la Céramique et du Verre the choice of this medium, and more particularly stanniferous earthenware (coloured paste coated with a glaze made opaque with tin oxide): 'I chose earth for its extreme sensuality, for its variety, for the titillating difficulty of enamelling. … In fact because it represents an inexhaustible philosophical world, the problem being to weave the closest possible links between the will of the mind and the possibilities of matter. This kind of complicity stops the moment my kiln opens, because, at that moment, the object becomes external to me, it takes on its own life, it crystallizes a moment of the past.' Entirely self-taught, he settled in Indre et Loire to work exclusively with earthenware, which he throws and models. He makes his own enamels (tin-bearing, calcium-based) and ashes. The following anecdote demonstrates the freedom and independence of Yves Suzanne, who chose to live with his hands in the Earth. It also aims to denounce the difficulty in France of practicing the profession of ceramist as an artist. It is a cultural history in our country, frozen as if sclerotic in the definition of legal status between the artist and the craftsman. Yves Suzanne will begin long legal proceedings (succession of trials) to have his status as an artist recognized against the regime of the primary social security fund for artists, which in 1979 refused to affiliate him. His brother Michel Suzanne, a lawyer at the Court, will plead his case. In 1981, the principle according to which 'the unique copy of a handmade ceramic work is considered an original work of art' is challenged by the Primary Health Insurance Fund considering that the activity falls within the domain of crafts. In 1982, the new trial annulled the decision of the Court of Cassation, which allowed Yves Suzanne to benefit from the general Social Security regime (that of artists). But the story does not end there: in 1983, the administration again requested the cancellation of the artist status, which will subsequently be refused by the Bourges Court of Appeal. It took 5 years of tenacity, patience and perseverance for Yves Suzanne to have his work as a ceramic artist recognized and to benefit from the social security system for artists (which is more advantageous from a tax point of view (low contributions) than that of artisans).