René Iché
Encyclopedia
For the town in Morocco see Iche, Morocco
René Iché (January 21, 1897, Sallèles-d'Aude, France
– December 23, 1954, Paris
) was a 20th century French sculptor
.
, where he was injured and gassed. After the war, graduated in law
, he changed his life and studied sculpture
with Antoine Bourdelle
and architecture
with Auguste Perret
. In 1927, his pacific monument of Ouveillan
(a Monumental Modern portic in the South of France) was very appreciated. During his first solo exhibition, at the art dealer Léopold Zborowski
in 1931, two sculptures were acquired by the Musée national d'art moderne
in Paris
(now in the Centre Pompidou) and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
in Rotterdam
.
Iché was a very good friend of Max Jacob
, close to Guillaume Apollinaire
, Picasso, Jacques Lipchitz
, Zadkine and a childhood friend of Joe Bousquet
. He sculpted the faces of André Breton
, Paul Éluard
and Federico García Lorca
.
In his studio of Montparnasse
, in 1937, he executed a Guernica
sculpture on the day (April 27, 1937) of the announcement of this event on the radio station and didn't wish to exhibit before.
He was amongst one of the 200 pioneers of the French Resistance
- he was in the Groupe du musée de l'Homme
- during the summer of 1940 and participated at the Degenerate art
exhibitions. He sculpted so La Déchirée (The Torn), which was brought to London and given to General Charles de Gaulle
, became one of the symbols of the French Resistance.
He participated at the Venice Biennale
in 1948 with Le Couple (Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
) and received the Grand Prix de Sculpture in 1953 for Melpomène 36.
He was chosen to sculpt the Apollinaire Monument in Paris and an Auschwitz' Memorial in Poland
, but both projects were interrupted by his premature death.
Iché's work is close to surrealism
and like the sculptors Alberto Giacometti
and Germaine Richier
inherits an aesthetic born from the workshop of Antoine Bourdelle.
, on the Resistance network, where Iché participated: Cohors-Asturies. The character of Luc Jardie (Paul Meurisse) is inspired by Iché.
René Iché (January 21, 1897, Sallèles-d'Aude, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
– December 23, 1954, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
) was a 20th century French sculptor
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
.
Life and work
René Iché fought in World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, where he was injured and gassed. After the war, graduated in law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, he changed his life and studied sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
with Antoine Bourdelle
Antoine Bourdelle
Antoine Bourdelle , originally Émile Antoine Bourdelle, was an influential and prolific French sculptor, painter, and teacher.-Career:...
and architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
with Auguste Perret
Auguste Perret
Auguste Perret was a French architect and a world leader and specialist in reinforced concrete construction. In 2005 his post-WWII reconstruction of Le Havre was declared by UNESCO one of the World Heritage Sites....
. In 1927, his pacific monument of Ouveillan
Ouveillan
Ouveillan is a commune in the Aude department in southern France.Sights include the church of St. John the Evangelist, built in Romanesque style during the 11th-12th centuries. It has a large choir area with three apses, which are decorated externally with Lombard bands.-References:*...
(a Monumental Modern portic in the South of France) was very appreciated. During his first solo exhibition, at the art dealer Léopold Zborowski
Leopold Zborowski
Leopold Zborowski was a Polish poet, writer and art dealer.Zborowski and his wife Anna were contemporaries with Parisian artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Cézanne, André Derain and Amedeo Modigliani, who painted their portraits.Leopold Zborowski was Amedeo Modigliani's primary art...
in 1931, two sculptures were acquired by the Musée national d'art moderne
Musée National d'Art Moderne
The Musée National d'Art Moderne is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou in the 4th arrondissement of the city. Created in 1947, it was then housed in the Palais de Tokyo and moved to its current location in 1977...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(now in the Centre Pompidou) and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is the main art museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The museum began in 1847 with the collection of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans . Much of the museum's original collection was destroyed in a disastrous 1864 fire...
in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
.
Iché was a very good friend of Max Jacob
Max Jacob
Max Jacob was a French poet, painter, writer, and critic.-Life and career:After spending his childhood in Quimper, Brittany, France, he enrolled in the Paris Colonial School, which he left in 1897 for an artistic career...
, close to Guillaume Apollinaire
Guillaume Apollinaire
Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki, known as Guillaume Apollinaire was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic born in Italy to a Polish mother....
, Picasso, Jacques Lipchitz
Jacques Lipchitz
Jacques Lipchitz was a Cubist sculptor.Jacques Lipchitz was born Chaim Jacob Lipchitz, son of a building contractor in Druskininkai, Lithuania, then within the Russian Empire...
, Zadkine and a childhood friend of Joe Bousquet
Joë Bousquet
Joë Bousquet was a French poet.Wounded on May 27, 1918 at Vailly near the Aisne battlelines at the end of the First World War, he was paralysed for the rest of his life, and lived a life largely bedridden, surrounded by his books...
. He sculpted the faces of André Breton
André Breton
André Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism"....
, Paul Éluard
Paul Éluard
Paul Éluard, born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel , was a French poet who was one of the founders of the surrealist movement.-Biography:...
and Federico García Lorca
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
.
In his studio of Montparnasse
Montparnasse
Montparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail...
, in 1937, he executed a Guernica
Guernica (sculpture)
Guernica is a 1937 statue made by French sculptor René Iché.-History:It is one of Iché's most personal and violent works. He created this sculpture immediately after the bombing of Guernica on 26 April 1937, during the Spanish Civil War. Shocked by the horror of the civilians' massacre, Iché worked...
sculpture on the day (April 27, 1937) of the announcement of this event on the radio station and didn't wish to exhibit before.
He was amongst one of the 200 pioneers of the French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
- he was in the Groupe du musée de l'Homme
Groupe du musée de l'Homme
The Groupe du musée de l'Homme was a movement in the French resistance to the Nazi occupation during the Second World War....
- during the summer of 1940 and participated at the Degenerate art
Degenerate art
Degenerate art is the English translation of the German entartete Kunst, a term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany to describe virtually all modern art. Such art was banned on the grounds that it was un-German or Jewish Bolshevist in nature, and those identified as degenerate artists were...
exhibitions. He sculpted so La Déchirée (The Torn), which was brought to London and given to General Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
, became one of the symbols of the French Resistance.
He participated at the Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
in 1948 with Le Couple (Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris is the City of Paris Museum of Modern Art dedicated to the arts of the 20th/21st centuries. It is located at 11 Avenue du Président Wilson in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.-Description:...
) and received the Grand Prix de Sculpture in 1953 for Melpomène 36.
He was chosen to sculpt the Apollinaire Monument in Paris and an Auschwitz' Memorial in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, but both projects were interrupted by his premature death.
Iché's work is close to surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
and like the sculptors Alberto Giacometti
Alberto Giacometti
Alberto Giacometti was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draughtsman, and printmaker.Alberto Giacometti was born in the canton Graubünden's southerly alpine valley Val Bregaglia and came from an artistic background; his father, Giovanni, was a well-known post-Impressionist painter...
and Germaine Richier
Germaine Richier
Germaine Richier was a French sculptor.Born in Grans, Richier began her studies at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Montpellier; in 1926 she went to work with Antoine Bourdelle, remaining in his studio until his death in 1929. There she became acquainted with Alberto Giacometti, although the two were...
inherits an aesthetic born from the workshop of Antoine Bourdelle.
Movie
Jean-Pierre Melville's film Army of Shadows (L'Armée des ombres, 1969) is based, like the novel of Joseph KesselJoseph Kessel
Joseph Kessel was a French journalist and novelist.He was born in Villa Clara, Entre Ríos, Argentina, because of the constant journeys of his father, a Lithuanian doctor of Jewish origin. Joseph Kessel lived the first years of his childhood in Orenburg, Russia, before the family moved to France...
, on the Resistance network, where Iché participated: Cohors-Asturies. The character of Luc Jardie (Paul Meurisse) is inspired by Iché.
External links
- http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=DpYVI71LqhwFrench TV show (english subtitles), Guernica by Rene IcheRené IchéFor the town in Morocco see Iche, MoroccoRené Iché was a 20th century French sculptor.-Life and work:...
] - Official Website (in french)
- artist page
- Pompidou Center