DAVID MESLY (Paris, 1918 - Paris, 2004). Lot n° 38

DAVID MESLY (Paris, 1918 - Paris, 2004). "Pingouin". Marble. Signed on the base. Size: 40 x 16 x 14 cm. The sculptor David Mesly, whose real name is Michel Robert, began studying sculpture with his father before beginning his drawing lessons at a school in Montparnasse in Paris between 1932 and 1939. His bronzes are executed from a stone sculpture which is made by direct carving. The lines and proportions of his works reflect an extreme concern for perfection, and his representations are intended to be naturalistic, leaving room for the imagination only through the attitudes of the subjects. Between 1931 and 1947, the artist exhibited his sculptures at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, the Salon National des Beaux-Arts, the Salon des Indépendants and the Susse Gallery. From 1945 he worked as a copyist for the Monuments Historiques, producing more than five hundred projects in France. Later, Michel Robert received a commission from the State for the statue of the Tour d'Auvergne in Quimper, and was appointed departmental inspector of historic monuments at the end of 1945. He continued his work in the restoration of historic monuments until 1981, and at the same time worked in the studio of the Italian sculptor Antoniucci Volti (1915-1989), who belonged to the lineage of the sculptors Rodin, Bourdelle and Maillol. In February 1996, he entrusted the exclusivity of his sculpted work to Jean-Paul Villain's gallery in Paris, where he had already exhibited in 1998 and where he chose the pseudonym of David Mesly. This gallery paid tribute to him after his death in February 2004.