César Baldaccini, known as César, was a French sculptor born in 1921 in Marseille and died in 1998 in Paris. He was part of the New Realists movement, which was born in 1960. He is also the creator of the bronze trophy of the César ceremony of French cinema.
Photo: Jeangagnon
In 1943, he entered the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in Paris. Since it was impossible for him to work with stone because of its cost, he turned to other materials. From 1947, he worked with iron. In 1949, he was introduced to arc welding in an industrial carpentry.
From 1952 onwards, he used inexpensive salvaged materials and made his first sculptures from welded scrap metal. César collected the materials for his first sculptures from scrap metal dumps: tubes, bolts and screws that became insects or were found in the powerful curves of the Venus of Villetaneuse.
Photo: © CCH A. Klopfenstein/Army/Defense
From 1954 onwards, he also created sculptures in welded metal, then in partially polished bronze. A man of both simplicity and complexity, with a straightforward southern accent, he cultivated his image as an eternal craftsman, a welder and above all a great creator.
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