ETIENNE MARTIN – La Sauterelle

ETIENNE MARTIN

(1913 – 1995)

 

La Sauterelle

 

Green patinated bronze cast                           

Signed on the base

N°2/8

Foundry : Clementi

 

Height :160 cm

Width :  26 cm

Depth : 54 cm

Provenance : Françoise Dupuy-Michaud Collection

 

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Category:

Description

Commentary:  

This piece was created based on the original plaster from 1933, donated by Madame Françoise Dupuy Michaud to the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon in 1996.  

The sculpture titled La Sauterelle, named after the nickname given to a studio model, represents the first emblematic work of Étienne Martin. Created during his training at the École des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, this imposing female nude figure illustrates his interest in Egyptian sculpture.  

A tripartite contract signed on February 25, 1992, between Françoise Dupuy-Michaud, Étienne Martin, and Guy Landon, for a period of ten years, stipulated the production of a bronze cast of La Sauterelle, in accordance with the specifications of the original edition of the sculpture. Only this single example was to be produced.  

 

Provenance : Françoise Dupuy-Michaud Collection  

 

Bibliography (plaster model) :

Michel Ragon, Étienne-Martin, Brussels, La Connaissance, 1970, listed as No. 1 in the catalog and reproduced on pages 13 and 99.  

Collective, Le Poids du Monde, Marcel Michaud (1898-1958), Exhibition catalog, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, Lyon, Fage, 2011, reproduced on pages 19, 120, 217, and described on page 120.  

Collective, under the direction of Sylvie Ramond and Pierre Wat , Exhibition catalog, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (October 22, 2011 – January 23, 2012), Lyon, Hazan, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, 2011, reproduced on pages 44, 57, 199, and 239.  

 

Biography :

Étienne-Martin was born in Loriol, Drôme, in 1913. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon from 1929 to 1933, then continued his training at the Académie Ranson in Paris after receiving the Prix de Paris. In 1966, he was awarded the Grand Prize for Sculpture at the 33rd Venice Biennale, and in 1984, he exhibited at the Centre Georges Pompidou. In 2012, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon paid tribute to him with a retrospective exhibition.  

 

Exhibitions:

 

– In 1972, an Étienne-Martin exhibition was held at the Musée Rodin.  

– In 1984, a comprehensive exhibition of his Demeures was presented at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.  

– In 1996, a dedicated exhibition was held at the Fondation de Coubertin (Saint-Rémy-les-Chevreuse, Yvelines).  

– In 1997, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Clermont-Ferrand (now the Musée d’Art Roger-Quilliot) honored him with an exhibition.  

– From June to September 2010, an exhibition was presented at the Centre Pompidou, showcasing fifteen sculptures, drawings, personal notebooks, and photographs of his studio. It was later displayed in Vannes at the Musée de la Cohue (June–September 2011) as part of the “Centre Georges Pompidou hors-les-murs” program.  

– From October 2011 to January 2012, the first retrospective of the artist was presented at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon.  

 

Public Collections: 

 

Belgium:  

Antwerp, Middelheim Open Air Sculpture Museum: “Demeure” 

Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium  

 

Canada: 

Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec: « Demeure III », 1960  

 

United States:

Art Institute of Chicago  

New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum  

 

France:  

Amiens, near the Church of Saint-Leu: “Demeure 4”, 1961  

 

Cassis  

« La Durance à Sistero », oil on canvas, 56 × 80 cm  

 

Clermont-Ferrand, Place du 1er Mai: « Demeure XX – Terrasses de la Terre et de l’Air », 1989 (on loan from the Centre national des arts plastiques)  

 

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon : « Tête aux mains », 1950-1951, bronze  

 

Musée de Grenoble :  

La Nuit ouvrante, 1948, bronze  

Le Collier de la nuit  

Les Eaux souterraines du désir, 1985, mixed media  

 

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon:  

Le Cerbère, 1977, chestnut wood (acquired in 1985)  

Femme debout, bronze (museum purchase) and Femme debout, plaster (donated    in 1994)  

Pietà, 1945, limewood (acquired in 2008)  

Le Secrétaire (donation 2018), Nuit II, La Nuit Nina, and Les Gémeaux (acquired in 2018)  

 

Académie de Marseille  

Panorama des Ports marchands entre le phare Sainte-Marie et la tour Saint-Jean, oil on canvas, before 1905, 50 × 61 cm  

 

Noyal-sur-Vilaine, 

L’Athanor, Étienne-Martin Museum and Park, Domaine du Bois Orcan (various sculptures)  

 

Paris:  

 

22 works at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (

Donation Étienne-Martin), including:  

Le Nœud (1938)  

La Nuit Nina (1951)  

Tête d’Alma (1954)  

 

Several works reconstructing his childhood home (Les Demeures), including:  

Demeure II (1958-1959)  

Petite Demeure X (1965)  

Le Fil du Temps (1978)  

Jeux et Racines, inspired by natural tree shapes:  

Le Petit Canard (1951-1953)  

Le Bec (1964)  

Le Rhinocéros and L’Amandier (1969)  

 

Mixed media and polychrome works:  

Le Clin d’œil (1970)  

Main rouge (1986)  

 

Late large-scale wood sculptures:  

La Corne (1989)  

L’Échelle (1991)  

 

44 works at the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, including:  

Nuit ouvrante, wood, 1945-1955  

Grand couple, wood, 1946  

L’Idole des Ramoneurs, oxidized metals and wood, 1946  

La Julie, painted wood, 1951  

Le Manteau, mixed media, 1962  

Abécédaire, wood and iron, 1967 (deposited at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nancy since 1998)  

Mur miroir, painted wood and rubber, 1979  

Double trèfle, wood, 1985  

Ecce homo, wood and steel chains, 1993  

 

Paris, Jardin des Tuileries: Personnage III, 1967  

Paris, Parc de Bercy : Demeure X, 1968  

Paris, Quai Saint-Bernard, Open-Air Sculpture Museum: Demeure I (1954-58)  

 

Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, Fondation de Coubertin : Trois Personnages, 1967

 

Rennes, Frac Bretagne : Abécédaire et autres lieux, 1967 [archive]

 

Netherlands : 

Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum  

 

Switzerland : 

Martigny, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Sculpture Park: Grand Couple, 1947, bronze