Galerie Beaubourg, Paris
Private collection, since 1980
Paris, Galerie Beaubourg, Foire international de l’art contemporain (FIAC), October 1980
Andros, Museum of Contemporary Art-Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation, Glancing at the Century, 28 June – 20 September 1998, pp. 126-127, ill. p. 127
Grégoire Müller, “Der Plastiker César,” Du, vol. II, no. 342, 1968, p. 112
Jean-Louis Mons, Villetaneuse informations, vol. IX, 1982, p. 23
Pierre Nahon, “Je suis un sculpteur ancien,” Cimaise, vol. 31, no. 170, May-July 1984, p. 89
Pierre Restany, César, Paris, La Différence, 1988, p. 195
“César,” Galleries Magazine, no. 55, summer 1993, p. 99
Denise Durand-Ruel, César (catalogue raisonné), vol. I, 1947-1964, Paris, La Différence, 1994, p. 419
César, Daniel Abadie, “Sur la Sculpture,” César, retrospective exhibition catalogue, Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, 10 June – 19 October 1997, p. 18
It was out of necessity that César began to take an interest in iron as a sculpting material and a welding technique. In 1954, the owner of a factory that manufactured metal cabinets in a suburb located in the north of Paris, put the enormous hall of his building to the artist’s disposal. He also authorized César to use metal pieces and the factory’s machines freely. For more than a decade César worked there passionately, combining at the same time the skills of worker, artisan and artist. The work Homage to Léon, as indicated by the title, is dedicated to Léon Jacques, the owner of the factory.
The work is marked by an important influence to the artist: that of Germaine Richier. Their works have irregular surfaces which underline the sense of suffering, pain and doubt in common. They are also both permeated by the vision of Pompeiian corpses entombed in their death agony by the ash of Vesuvius. César is especially interested in the construction of the sculpture, how it is assembled from all kinds of scrap iron. He uses bits of metal like pieces of a puzzle, where only the soldering iron will place them side by side, modify and finally assemble them. Nevertheless, this does not mean his sculptures do not contain that “inner presence.” Léon, rendered with hollow eye-sockets, mouth opened as if to let out a cry and stomach slashed by deep gashes, speaks of a distress that is very close to the work of Giacometti. Portrayed with feet joined, hands captured in a gesture they seem unable to complete, the model is reminiscent of the lanky figures of the Swiss sculptor not so much in the physical aspect as in the mental state he is subject to.
This version of Homage to Léon presented here, was cast in 1980, that is to say sixteen years after the conception of the original in welded metal. We cannot however speak of an “edition” as César was happy to point out: “[…] These are variations, not classical casts at all […] Each piece has its originality… I intervene constantly. There’s no relation whatsoever between iron and bronze”.
