Antique Woman's Mask - Henry Cros (1840-1907)

Polychrome glass paste
presented on a wooden panel  

France
circa 1900

height 16 cm
width 10 cm
panel : 25,4 x 19,4 cm

Biography :
César Isidore Henry Cros, known as Henry Cros (1840-1907), was a French sculptor, painter, ceramist, and glassmaker master. Born into a family of intellectuals, he began painting in 1854. He studied under the sculptors François Jouffroy and Antoine Étex and the painter Jules Valadon at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He made his debut at the 1861 Salon, presenting a bust of his brother Charles Cros. In 1863, he participated in the Salon des Refusés, exhibiting three plaster casts. Between 1869 and 1880, Henry Cros became known to discerning art critics for his research. Cros began by developing an interest in wax and reproducing several of his sculptures in this material, even inventing an encaustic painting process. He later turned his attention to ceramics and produced stoneware. Henry Cros eventually began practicing glassmaking and participated in the development of the modern glass paste technique. His unique work, free from any form of academicism and belonging to Art Nouveau, was inspired in particular by themes from European Antiquity.   Henry Cros participated in the 1889 Universal Exhibition in Paris, where he presented eight low-reliefs, seven of which were made of glass paste and one of marble. He was awarded a silver medal. Cros worked in particular at the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, where the State granted him a studio in 1891 as well as an annual subsidy. He successively received two important commissions from the State for large compositions in polychrome glass paste, "The History of Water" (1892) – now preserved at the Musée d'Orsay – and "The History of Fire" (1892), then in 1905 a commission from the City of Paris for "The Apotheosis of Victor Hugo", presented at the Victor Hugo House.   Recognized by his peers, but ignored by the general public, a letter from Antoine Bourdelle addressed to Jean Cros, his son, unequivocally attests to his admiration for the artist: "How many times Rodin said to me: Bourdelle, we all have a great duty to fulfill towards Henry Cros. We seem to be too unaware that he is a great artist. His form touches on the most beautiful laws of ancient art from the greatest times and without speaking of his genius as the inventor of his colored glass paste, his work as a painter, as a draftsman, his work as a sculptor makes him a unique master who is sufficient for the glory of his time and his nation." (words taken from the exhibition catalog "Henry Cros", published by Chantal Kiener, 2017).