Marguerite LAVRILLIER-COSSACEANU (1893-1980) - Lot 32

Marguerite LAVRILLIER-COSSACEANU (1893-1980) Woman's torso, 1945-1946 Bronze proof with green-brown patina Posthumous lost-wax casting Coubertin Signed "Margaret Cossaceanu" and numbered 2/8 (on the front of the right thigh) Founder's stamp and date H : 114 cm W : 36 cm D : 32 cm This is one of the most important pieces in Marguerite Lavrillier-Cossaceanu's oeuvre. It appears that the plaster model of this bust was exhibited at the 1946 Salon d'Automne (no. 812), then at the 1962 Salon d'Automne (no. 414). The bronze proof acquired in 1955 (AMS 390), kept by the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, was cast by Susse in 1949. It was shown at the Salon d'Automne in 1949 (no. 851) and at the exhibition organized by Galerie Bernheim-Jeune in 1952. Finally, the work appeared at the Biennale des formes humaines held at the Musée Rodin in 1968. "Her science and great spontaneous gifts place her at the forefront of young modern statuary", wrote Antoine Bourdelle in 1928, about the woman who was his pupil at the Grande Chaumière academy from 1922 onwards, along with Germaine Richier and Alberto Giacometti, then his collaborator until his death in 1929. At the same time, she became a pupil and practitioner of her Paris-based compatriot, Constantin Brancusi. Born in Bucharest to a mother who taught French and a father who was an engineer, the young woman had already made a name for herself at the fine arts school in her native city, first in the studio of the Symbolist sculptor Dimitrie Paciuera (1873-1932), then in Rome. It was in the Eternal City that she met the man who was to become her husband, André Lavrillier (1885-1958), first Grand Prix de Rome for medal engraving in 1914. Acclaimed by commissions and exhibitions, Marguerite Lavrillier-Cossaceanu's work can be found in public collections in France (Musée de la Marine, Musée d'Orsay, Musée de la Monnaie, Cité de la Musique, etc.) and abroad.