FRANÇOIS RATY (1928-1982) - Lot 125

FRANÇOIS RATY (1928-1982) Woman's head, 1975 Monotype. Signed and dated RATY (19)75 lower right. Sheet size: 51x46.5cm François Raty began his artistic career by training in drawing and painting at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, where he met Guillaume Met de Penninghen (1912-1990), a painter and ceramist who had a lasting influence on him. By 1949, Raty was exhibiting his first graphic works in Paris, but it wasn't long before he, too, was driven by a desire to reconnect with clay, and in 1951 he moved to Vallauris - the Mecca of the post-war ceramics revival. There, he learned the craft from René Maurel (1910-1986), who instilled in him his mastery of enameling. His ceramic creations, mainly zoomorphic - sometimes anthropomorphic - are inspired by Norse mythology, African and Oceanic art. Hand-crafted using the colombin technique, her works are powerful and invoke a sense of essentiality. Raty distinguishes himself by the quality of his modelling, creating figures and figurines with a very pure and personal style. He voluntarily abandons throwing in favor of freer modeling, giving rise to stylized forms, enhanced by enameling in shades of brown and deep black. Raty's animal figures are reminiscent of the creations of a certain Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), who lived not far from here, influencing and challenging artists and potters alike. His owls and bulls inevitably evoke the world of the Catalan master, although Raty's unique modelling and technical mastery mean that his ceramics reflect a plastic universe all his own. This filiation is nonetheless evident in his choice of subjects, and is most obvious in works such as Tête d'homme barbu and Tête de femme, presented here, where the Picassian treatment of the figures is undeniable. His proximity to the surrealist world is also evident in some of his creations. His painterly palette, drawn from the works of the 15th-century masters, and his use of landscapes with a desert horizon are reminiscent of the work of Max Ernst (1891-1976), Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) and Yves Tanguy (1900-1955). Here too, the parallel should be seen through the prism of the artist's personal universe: his paintings feature characters, insects or hybrids, rendered in Raty's own unique and original form, which cannot be compared. François Raty's talent as a sculptor and the originality of his plastic universe are truly illustrated in his ceramic work. He enjoyed great success from the outset, exhibiting his work on numerous occasions, notably at Nérolium between 1953 and 1959. Having produced little, and abandoning ceramics for metal sculpture, his works in clay - rare and of great aesthetic and technical quality - are today highly prized by collectors.