Léon-ernest Drivier (1878-1951) - Female Nude

Léon-Ernest Drivier (1878-1951)
Female nude
Black pencil and stump on paper
Signed with the stamp on the lower right
Dimensions of the work: 33 x 19 cm
Dimensions of the frame: 50 x 40 cm

Originally from Grenoble, Léon-Ernest Drivier joined the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1895 in the workshop of sculptor Louis-Ernest Barrias. He began as a practitioner in the workshop of Auguste Rodin alongside other sculptors soon united under the name of Bande à Schnegg. In search of a new aesthetic, these combine the expressionist force inherited from the master with the fundamentals of ancient and reviving classical sculpture.

Founding member of the Salon des Indépendants in 1923, Léon-Ernest Drivier received numerous public and private orders for monumental works and large decorations. Solicited by the State, he produced a gilded bronze sculpture representing Athena intended for the Musée des Colonies inaugurated in 1931 (now the Palais de la Porte Dorée in Paris). In 1937, on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition, he executed a group sculpted in the round, La Joie de vivre, now preserved in the Trocadéro gardens, as well as two nymphs on the esplanade of the Palace from Tokyo. He also received several orders from the Argentine authorities, who drew from the practitioners acclaimed by Rodin.

Léon-Ernest Drivier is part of this modern figurative movement of the 1920s and 30s assuming the classical heritage. It focuses on the human figure, giving pride of place to the examination. Anxious to achieve an ideal of simplicity, he formulates an artistic proposal focused on the purification of volumes. Our sheet, where the masses stand out thanks to the stump work, could be a preparatory work. It illustrates the quest for balance dear to the artist.

Public collections
Paris, Musée national d’art moderne - Centre Pompidou
Paris, Musée d’art moderne de la ville
Boulogne-Billancourt, Musée des années 30
Mont-de-Marsan, Musée Despiau-Wlerick
Strasbourg, Musée d’art moderne et contemporain