"duck at its toilet" Iréné Rochard (Pompon, Sandoz), art deco.

Beautiful art deco bronze depicting a duck cleaning its feathers. The official title is "canard à sa toilette". This is a well-known work by the french sculptor irénée rochard. It was made in three different sizes, 13.5 cm, 27.5 cm and 45 cm high. This is the small version, 13.5 cm high. The bronze has a brown patina and is signed on the base with "i. Rochard". Rochard cast his sculptures himself. Biography: irénée (rené félix) rochard (villefrançe-sur-saône, 1906-1984) came from a family of artists, his father being a painter. He attended the école des arts-décoratifs with zélikson and dubois. Very quickly, he devoted himself to animal sculpture. In 1926, the year of his release, he received first prize in his first exhibition with the sculpture 'panthère grandeur nature'. He exhibited regularly at the paris salons, usually at the salon des artistes français. He became friends with pompon and was also a great fan of sandoz. He was inspired and encouraged by him. He regularly visited the jardin des plantes, where he studied animals and gave a certain kindness and intelligence to his sculpted animals, which were somewhat stylized but always naturally elegant. Awards: he achieved success and gained a certain notoriety as an animal artist. He won numerous awards, including several gold, silver and bronze medals at various salons, as well as the prix de l'institut de france and the grand prix animalier edouard-marcel sandoz.