Georges SERRÉ (1889-1956) - Lot 100

Georges SERRÉ (1889-1956) Stoneware sculpture with turquoise and brown patina, representing a Buddha head. Monogrammed G. S. on the base Circa 1930 H : 33 cm Georges SERRÉ (1889-1956) Like Chaplet and Mayodon, Georges Serré was born in Sèvres in 1889, so it was only natural that he should join the nearby Manufacture at the age of 14. His career as an independent ceramist was born of his encounter with the land of Asia in Cochinchina, where in 1918, under the auspices of Albert Sarraut, he was sent to teach at the "Écoles d'Art Indigène". From that moment on, his work entered into osmosis with Khmer art and underwent its beneficial influence. Alongside his great elders Chaplet, Delaherche and contemporaries Simmen, Decoeur and Lenoble, who also grasped the resources offered by the Far East, he nevertheless set himself apart from them with his own inimitable style. In addition, at the request of his friends Dejean, Wlérick, Comtesse and Gimond, attracted by the quality of his stoneware, he published many of their sculptures. His pieces, designed and created by him alone on an antique potter's wheel, are all fired in a wood-fired kiln, heated with oak and birch to temperatures approaching 1300°C, whose difficulty of control and incomparable rendering further add to his pleasure in fine workmanship. Considering himself first and foremost a craftsman, Serré finds in working with stoneware, above and beyond perfection, a personal asceticism rooted in the soul of each unique piece, turned and decorated with patience, mastery and brilliance. Dealers and collectors were not mistaken: Rouard made him, alongside Decoeur, Dunand and Lenoble, one of its "flagship artists" from 1925 to 1950, and some fifteen museums around the world acquired his work.