"Mermoz", Lucien Gibert (1904-1988)

Bronze sculpture representing Jean Mermoz (1901 -1936). This sculpture is signed on the left shoulder: L. Gibert.

The bust of Mermoz shows a decided, determined man. Moreover, the movement of the hair and the overall appearance of the piece are fully in keeping with the Art Deco style.

The bronze is a sand cast iron, covered with a shaded green, brown patina, well shiny.  The piece is screwed onto a hollow foot made of black marble.

Dimensions: height: sculpture: 39, with foot: 53 cm. Width: sculpture: about 35, base: 21.5 cm. Depth: sculpture about 24 cm, base: 13.5 cm. Weight: 21 kg.

The artist: Lucien Gibert (1904 -1988) was a French sculptor who trained in the workshop of his cabinetmaker father, then at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Saint-Etienne and at the Ecole nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris, in the studio of Jean Boucher. He then works under the direction of Charles Despiau who guides him towards a less conventional art.

Faithful to the human figure, and very influenced by Aristide Maillol, Gibert first practices direct cutting on wood, stone, and marble. He exhibited from 1923 at the Salon des Artistes Français and the Salon des Indépendants.

He receives the gold medal at the 1937 Universal Exhibition.

He carries out numerous state commissions and is also the author of more than two hundred medals for the Monnaie de Paris, an institution of which he was the director.

He was made Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1950 and then promoted to officer of the same order and made commander of the national order of Merit.

The model: Lucien Gibert represented Jean Mermoz (1901-1936) because he was a true heroic figure of his time: great pioneer of French aviation, notably on the lines of the Aéropostale who became a modern hero, comparable to explorers or soldiers who died for the homeland. He perfectly embodied the audacity and spirit of adventure that Gibert liked to highlight.