Max le Verrier

Was a French artist and sculptor born near Paris in 1891.

He studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Geneva after serving in the French army during the First World War. Whilst in Switzerland he became close friends with fellow sculptors Marcel Bouraine and Pierre le Faguays and he went on to collaborate with them for a lot of his life.

He returned to Paris in 1919 and founded his own studio. During this time he made his famous ‘Pelican’ sculpture which became very popular and he went on to make a lot of animal sculptures.

He achieved a Gold medal at the famous 1925 Paris exhibition that went on to give it’s name to the Art Deco movement (l’Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels). He opened his own foundry in 1926 and gained a reputation for producing very high quality work that had exceptional detailing and accuracy. He did not use bronze, but his own special mix of metals as these allowed for the level of detail that he became renown for. He cast pieces for a wide range of sculptors including Charles, Denis, Janle, Bouraine and Le Faguays. He also continued to produce his own works.

He went on to become famous in the 1920s for the production of statues of the idealised female form which became a mainstay of the Art Deco movement. He went on working throughout the 1930s and received a medal of honour at the International Exhibition in Paris in 1937. He was arrested in 1944 for his French Resistance activities against the Nazi regime in 1944.

Once World War II was over, he re-opened his studio and went on sculpting until his death in 1973. His work is highly regarded and much in demand, particularly his Art Deco pieces.