Charles Auffret

The French Academy in Rome, directed by Richard Peduzzi, is organizing an exhibition dedicated to the work of sculptor Charles Auffret (1929–2001), from May 9 to July 15, 2007, at the Atelier du Bosco. This retrospective features a selection of about twenty sculptures and thirty drawings, highlighting the rigor of his art. It pays tribute to a great artist whose work has yet to be widely exhibited and allows viewers to gain insight into the figurative movement in French sculpture of the last century.

THE ARTIST AND HIS WORK

Charles Auffret was born in 1929 in Besançon. His calling as a sculptor took root in his native region, which is rich in Gallo-Roman and medieval sculptures (the churches of Autun, Vézelay, Cluny, etc.). Drawn to all these stone sculptures, and despite his family’s reservations, he began his training at the École des Beaux-Arts in Dijon. He immediately joined Pierre Honoré’s sculpture studio, where he acquired a solid foundation in the craft: modeling, stone carving, and casting. Then, in 1951, he moved to Paris. This new environment allowed him to discover the works of two great sculptors: Charles Malfray (1887–1940) and Charles Despiau (1874–1946). He never stopped studying their work throughout his life. After passing the entrance exam for the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, he attended Janniot’s monumental art studio, known as the training ground for the “Prix de Rome.” Disappointed with the instruction there, he chose instead to focus on drawing from the masters at the Louvre. In 1954, he became friends with the sculptors Jean Carton and Raymond Martin: they exchanged ideas about art, and, in his solitude in Paris, these friendships brought him great comfort. He earned a living by doing work for fellow artists, notably for Constantin Brancusi. From that time on, he began exhibiting regularly at the Salon des Indépendants, the Salon d’Automne, and the Salon du Dessin et de la Peinture à l’eau. In 1963, he joined the Académie Malebranche as a professor; its artistic director was the art critic Maximilien Gautier. The following year, he received the “Groupe des 9” Prize—the most prestigious sculpture award in existence—awarded by independent sculptors. This prize, earned after twenty years of work and effort, enabled him to cast his first bronze sculptures. Meanwhile, he met his future wife, Arlette Ginioux, herself a painter and sculptor. He received the Ricard Foundation Prize, which allowed him to spend a year on the island of Bendor (in the south of France), where their son Jean-Baptiste was born. He participated in several solo and group exhibitions, received various other awards, and his works were acquired by several museums.

In 1991, he was appointed professor at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs on Rue d’Ulm in Paris, where he taught until his death in 2001. Charles Auffret drew constantly, as a daily ritual, almost an ascetic practice. Anything was worth pausing for, worth capturing on the fly in his sketchbook. This is what constitutes the soul of his work—and, beyond that, his perspective on the world and on things, forms, and bodies. Each of his sketches can indeed be considered a work of art in its own right. Beyond physical appearances, beyond the observation and analysis of bodily structure, he sought to uncover the soul, to find and make tangible the life of his subject—whether a woman, a child, or an animal. His fundamental teaching—which is constantly recalled by all who knew him and those who were fortunate enough to have been his students—is summed up in this phrase, which he always repeated: “The brain is good. But without the heart, it’s not much. The hand, however, brings it to life.” That is precisely what gives his work—whether sculpture or drawing—that special, even unique, charm and power, beyond the formal choices, which, for their part, never betray the knowledge and craft that had been passed down to him, while still resulting in a personal and independent body of work.

THE BOOK

The exhibition is accompanied by a bilingual book (Italian and French), published by Somogy, featuring reproductions of all the works on display and including a critical essay by Yves Bonnefoy, an essay by Cecilia Trombadori, an interview with Jean-Baptiste Auffret conducted by Michel Archimbaud, and an introduction by Richard Peduzzi.