Pierre Félix Masseau

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Bust of Charles Baudelaire, by Pierre Félix Masseau.

Pierre Félix Masseau (17 March 1869 in Lyon – 14 April 1937 in Paris), known professionally as Fix-Masseau. He was a noted French sculptor and father of poster artist with whom he is sometime confused with.

Fix-Masseau was born in Lyon. He studied sculpture in Dijon, then in Lyon as a student of , continuing his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under the supervision of Gabriel Jules Thomas. In 1897 he was awarded the which allowed him to travel to the Netherlands, Switzerland, and also to Belgium and Italy (eight months in Florence)

Fix-Masseau set up his workshop in Paris where he attracted the admiration of Rodin. The latter was unable to convince him to join his studio. The quality of his sculptures was noticed during the salons of the society of fine arts at the end of the 19th century. It made him a recognized and respected artist by his style and his technical mastery in various material bronze, wood, original patinas. His early art was part of the Symbolism movement, a precursor of the art nouveau with often feminine themes. An original character of his (a "Mephistophelian" look), being almost reclusive in his art, Fix-Masseau is the very image of the total artist, mystical, and concentrated.

The 1890s and the 1900s were his most creative phase. In the 1890s he created some of his most notable art works. In 1894 Le Sécret a tall female mystical figure, holding up a box, her face receded almost behind it, like her naked body under a half opened coat. The figure is now at the Musée d'Orsay, copies existe in bronze. From the same year is L'emprise, which was first presented as in plaster at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1894. It shows a young woman as a personification of the human soul appears to be haunted by five head personifying passions: lust, anger, greed, attachment, and vanity. Both bronzes became key works of the Symbolism movement.

He is also well known for his portraits as busts or masks, in bronze, marble, plaster, and ceramic. They are characterized by lively sculpted surface, close to Rodin's style. Most noticeable is his bust of Beethoven, 1902. The original bronze is housed in the Beethoven House in Bonn.

He worked in a number of styles and media. In his paintings, which are mostly still-lifes of flowers, he es experimented with impressionist styles, especially in his "Aprés le dejeuner", depicting a mother and a child sitting in a sun-lit garden.

He formed part of the French decorative art movement, the , creating objects numerous decorative figures of nude males in various positions holding different attributes, and as well as over-beautiful saccharine young females, and busts of children. These decorative items graced many livings rooms of the well-to-do at the time. Less known is his co-operation with ceramists, such as (1862-1927). Fix-Masseau created also vases (pewter), plates (stoneware), clocks (with F. Barbedienne), and chandeliers in the Art Nouveau style, exhibited numerous works at the Salon des Artistes Francais and the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts.

At Herqueville, his residence outside Paris, he befriended Louis Renault, the famous car engineer and entrepreneur. After the Great War, Fix-Masseau was the first sculptor to create a celebratory statuette of a tank, the Renault F 17, highlighting the age of the machines in war, which was previously only allegorized with nude males with swords and classizizing depictions of the female Victoria.

After WWI he served as director of the in Limoges until 1935, and was appointed curator at the . In 1926, He was made an officer of the Légion d'honneur. Between 1904 and 1920 he was a member of the Societé des artistes français.

His style changed after WWI to the more austere and forms of the art déco in difference to his earlier works in exuberant Art Nouveau. While still producing high quality works, he lost his avantgarde status. In his later years produced a number of masks and busts for Frédéric Chopin and Charles Baudelaire, as well as numerous medals as commissions for notable Parisian physicians of his tume.

His works are among other institutions in the Musée d'Orsay and in the Petit Palais in Paris, in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon and in the Albertinum in Dresden.

Selected works[]

Gallery[]

  • Jeanne Hatto sculpture Fix-Masseau

    Jeanne Hatto sculpture Fix-Masseau, 1907

  • Apachina sculpture Fix-Masseau

    Apachina sculpture Fix-Masseau, 1906

  • Petite fille d'Eve sculpture Fix-Masseau

    Petite fille d'Eve sculpture Fix-Masseau, 1907

  • Femme s'essuyant sculpture Fix-Masseau

    Femme s'essuyant sculpture Fix-Masseau, 1905

References[]

  • Elmar Stolpe: Fix-Masseau. In: Saur Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon. Band 41. Saur, München/Leipzig 2004, pp. 15–16.
  • Emmanuel Bénézit, Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs de tous les temps et de tous les pays, Paris: Librairie Gründ, 1923-4 and 1976.
  • European Art Gallery entry

External links[]

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