MICHEL LUCOTTE (B. 1931) - FORMER PERSONAL COLLECTION OF THE ARTIST Lightning rod for the tightrope walker, 1954 Sculpture. Cut, hammered, welded and blackened iron. 150x113x108cm Oxidations. Provenance: - Artist's personal collection. - Collection Arnaud Serpollet. Please note: A certificate of authenticity, dating the work and issued by the artist, will be given to the purchaser. Born in Burgundy, Michel Lucotte trained as a turner from an early age, then at the École des Beaux-Arts in Dijon. Curious and open to all artistic production and media, he was irresistibly captivated by ceramics - which remained his preferred medium throughout his life, alongside a rich activity as a sculptor, metalworker, painter and decorator. His background as a turner quickly evolved into a working technique based on modelling and inspired by ancient civilizations. This work gave rise to an early production of glazed ceramics with figurative accents, featuring motifs of birds and human figures. His reputation grew throughout France as his work diversified. The figuration of his early work gradually gave way to abstraction, in sculptures with sharp angles and sharp, often geometric lines. The plasticity of his compositions in a variety of materials reveals Lucotte's soul as a ceramist, while the balance of his works testifies to his skill as a draughtsman and his architectural conception of space. Fleshy volumes and supple curves mingle with sharp profiles and clean lines, producing a result of great balance and perfect rigor. His creations come in neutral tones, from white to matte black, browns and earth tones, lending a certain austerity to the whole. The abstraction he favors sometimes gives way to figurative subjects, particularly around the theme of the bird and flight, a symbol of freedom dear to the artist.