Roger Godchaux (1878-1958) Bronze Animalier Founder Susse Paris

Bronze animal sculpture from the Art Deco period by Roger Godchaux model listed entitled "La Lionne Marchant" signed by the artist on the terrace and bearing the mark of the founder Susse Freres Paris located at the back. This elegant lioness is animated by a slight walking movement, a feline and delicate curvature, ears erect, an inquiring gaze, she seems to be staring at us, intrigued and curious in her hushed walk. In the wake of Romanticism, the sculptor seems to have attracted the attention of the feline, he was able to add an impressionist touch to this bronze with decorative shapes and surfaces, so well rendered by the initial modeling of the earth, dear to the artist. , a technique which leaves a living texture to the sculpture, then he mainly worked with lost wax bronze, in particular with the illustrious Susse Frères and Valsuani foundry. The animals of the savannah fascinated the sculptor Godchaux, sensitive to the quiet strength of felines, by tradition the artist observed animals in the Jardin des Plantes or in the Parisian circuses, he represented them in all simplicity, in their daily life, this It is not so much the power of the wild animals that the artist sought to capture, but their aura thanks to simple and everyday attitudes. Nowadays, the prices of Roger Godchaux's bronze sculptures have been steadily increasing since the 2000s when they exceeded the threshold of 10,000 euros. Note an identical model to our auction for  € 18,000 at Millon in Paris. Since then, the sculptures of Godchaux have known how to assert themselves as sure values in the art market, posting records year after year. Roger Godchaux is recognized today on the international scene as one of the greatest French animal sculptors such as François Pompon, Charles Artus, Georges-Lucien Guyot or Paul Jouve. Reference of the subject "Lionne Marchant": Art Bronzes, Michael Forrest, 1988, p. 220, f. 3.168; p. 476 19th century bronzes: Dictionary of sculptors, Pierre Kjellberg, p. 361-362 Animals in bronze, Christopher Payne, p. 406 [biography], p. 255, p. 260, all performed by Susse] Dictionary of artists E. Benezit, Gründ, 2006, vol. VI, p. 355 Renowned sculptor, Roger Godchaux is the son of an antique dealer and a famous concert pianist. The artist arrived in Paris in 1894 and successfully passed the entrance examination for the School of Fine Arts, where he became a pupil of Jules Adler and Jean-Léon Gérôme. Very quickly he turned to animal sculpture. In 1896, he entered the Académie Julian before exhibiting his first works a few years later. The artist excelled in modeling and animal sculpture by representing a wide variety of animals, his favorite subjects being felines. Roger Godchaux exhibited his sculptures in 1905 at the Salon des Artistes Français. Art dealers such as Edgar Brandt successfully marketed the artist's bronzes. In addition to lionesses, Roger Godchaux also tenderly represented lion cubs, panthers and lions. Roger Godchaux is distinguished by a much more naturalistic way than his contemporaries of the Art Deco period. A great modeler, he proceeds by adding material and does not seek a smooth and uniform result. The textures thus apparent make the skin of animals alive. The bronze cast from the clay model by the large Susse Frères foundry allows us to appreciate all the subtleties of the artist's modeling, the traces of which can be seen of the tools and hands. work takes on a new dimension when in the 1920s, he discovers Rudyard Kipling's work “The Jungle Book”, which becomes for him a major source of inspiration. While Paul Jouve gave life to the great pachyderms of the book on paper, Roger GODCHAUX gives them shape in space by creating the sculptures of the Elephant with the Tiger, Elephant and his Mahout or even Tomai of the Elephants and The return of the Hunt. Thus, if the artist's bestiary is very diverse, he nevertheless very quickly becomes THE sculptor of the Elephant, so much this animal neglected by his contemporaries and difficult to represent is present in his work. At the 1925 International Exhibition of Decorative Arts, Roger Godchaux obtained a silver medal and in 1927, he won the competition organized by the automobile manufacturer Chenard and Walker to find an emblem for their cars. Roger Godchaux received his first order from the State in 1922. From then on, the artist produced numerous sculptures or plaques for French historical monuments and acquisitions continued between 1929 and 1953. During this period, the Newark Museum (USA) acquires two of his works. He also collaborated with the Manufacture de Sèvres in 1937. Roger Godchaux knew by his mastery and his talent to rise among the greatest animal sculptors of the XXth century.