GILBERT VALENTIN (1928-2000) - ATELIER LES ARCHANGES IN VALLAURIS Woman's bust Large anthropomorphic vase. Black glazed ceramic proof with granite surface. Signed G. VALENTIN - LES ARCHANGES à Vallauris under the base. Height: 35.5cm Pierced towards the base, not original. After initial experience as a wrought-iron worker, Gilbert Valentin began working with ceramics in 1946, first at the École de Céramique in Dieulefit, then at the École Nationale Professionnelle in Vierzon, before a spell at the Lunéville faïencerie. He was attracted by the dynamic atmosphere of Vallauris, where he settled in a former pignate factory that became his studio - renamed "Les Archanges". His most intense period of production began here: as his style took shape, he took part in several French and international exhibitions. As part of the 1950s revolution in forms, his ceramics feature bold volumes and often biomorphic shapes. He creates brightly colored decorations on matte granite backgrounds, ranging from black to white. In 1962, the Les Archanges workshop became multidisciplinary, juxtaposing the main medium of ceramics with other creations - painting, sculpture, lithography and weaving - all of great interest to Valentin. His work increasingly evolved towards a new identity, in which ceramics and iron - his formative mediums - blended into "meta-sculptures".