Max Blondat

(French sculptor, 1872-1925)

French, 20th century, male.

Born 3 September 1879, in Crain (Yonne); died 1926.

Sculptor. Monuments, busts.

Blondat trained under Thomas, Mathurin Moreau and Valton. He sculpted many funeral monuments, fountains, patriotic allegories and busts. A known work by him is a comic statuette representing a naked Victor Hugo holding a lyre astride the horse Pegasus with the head of an ass, which is an allusion to The Ass by the great poet (1880). He was a member of the Société des Artistes Français in Paris and exhibited at the Salon from 1911 to 1914, and from 1920 to 1925. He was awarded an honourable mention in 1900, and a first-class medal in 1904, at which time he also received the Prix National. He was made an Officer of the Légion d'Honneur in 1925.

Group Exhibitions

1979, Le Sculpteur Max Blondat (1872-1925) : du Modern Style à l'Art Déco, Musée départemental de l'Oise, Beauvais

Museum and Gallery Holdings

Boulogne-Billancourt (Mus. des Années 30): La Baronne de Rotschild as Diane (1922, terracotta)

Auction Records

Paris, 20 Feb 1931: Anniversary (marble) FRF 1,150

Paris, 18 Jan 1951: Head of a Girl (painted terracotta) FRF 5,000

Monte Carlo, 16 Dec 1978: Door Knocker (bronze, h. 13½ ins/34.5 cm) FRF 22,500

London, 8 Nov 1984: Fountain (c. 1890, white marble, h. 32 ins/81 cm) GBP 4,500

Paris, 10 Dec 1987: Whirlwind (lustre-patinated bronze, 16? ? 21 ? 2 ins/41.5 ? 53.5 ? 4.8 cm) FRF 85,000

Bibliography

Foucart, Bruno: Le Sculpteur Max Blondat (1872-1925) : du Modern Style à l'Art Déco, exhibition catalogue, Musée départemental de l'Oise, Beauvais, 1979.

Benezit Dictionary of Artists accessed 11/20/13 by E. Reluga