PIASA is holding a Modern and Contemporary Art auction on Wednesday, June 16, 2022.
With 103 lots, the sale is organized around several corpuses of works, offering a panorama of contemporary art, both in its French and international specificities, from World War II to today. The selection includes works by César.
''Le Pouce'' created in 1965 and ''Le Sein'' are the most emblematic works of the Human Prints series by the sculptor, César. Genesis of "Le Sein" is quite remarkable. In 1966, César suggests to Hélène Rochas - of the eponymous perfumes - to place a five-metre diameter stainless steel breast in the basin of her Poissy factory. The model is the breast of Victoria von Krupp, a dancer at the Parisian cabaret Crazy Horse Saloon. As with "Le Pouce", the artist, with the help of the pantograph, will later vary the dimensions and materials of her breasts, which can be hung on the wall or placed on the floor.
César (César Baldaccini dit) (1921-1998)
Sein, 1965
Estimate: 15 000 / 20 000 €
The choice of body parts here betrays the sexual connotation he gives to these Prints, eroticism generally appears in his work in a more discreet way. Whether it is a "thumb" or a "breast", the isolated element is represented in a very scrupulously exact and detailed manner. However, the large, sometimes monumental enlargements 'sublimate' these works at the same time as they give them an almost abstract character, almost erasing their own identity.
