DEMETRE CHIPARUS

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Demetre Chiparus (born Dumitru Haralamb Chipăruș on September 16, 1886 in Dorohoi, Romania and died on January 22, 1947 in Paris, France) was a sculptor of the Art Deco era who lived and worked in Paris. He is sometimes called Demeter Chiparus.

Biography

In 1909, Dumitru left his hometown near the Ukrainian border to study painting and drawing in Florence, Italy. He follows the courses of Raffaello Romanelli there.

He then went to Paris in 1912 to perfect his art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under the direction of Antonin Mercie and Jean Boucher.

In 1914, he received the "honorable" medal for the sculpture he exhibited at the Salon des artistes français. He opened his studio after the war and exhibited regularly in salons. He specializes in chryselephantine sculpture, a combination of ivory and bronze.

Chiparus' technique is thus summed up in an article in the newspaper La Tribune: “the artistic reference is the prolific work of the Romanian Demeter Chiparus, whose hand is particularly recognizable. After a few drawings, the artist made a "plastiline", a ductile material like clay which takes its final shape by hardening. The founder assembled the ivory work and the metal patina, then everything was cold painted. Finally, a base, in marble or onyx, completed the statuette”.

Most of his works were produced between the years 1914 and 1933. In the 1920s, Demetre Chiparus drew inspiration from the excavation work carried out in Egypt, with in particular the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen, to create sculptures. His work is also inspired by Russian ballets and French theatre.

He died in Paris on January 22, 1947. He is buried in the Bagneux cemetery in Paris.

Exhibitions

The largest collection of Chiparus' works, consisting of 120 pieces, is now on display at the Art Deco Museum in Moscow.

An important permanent collection of dancers from Chiparus is also on display at the Museum of Art Nouveau and Deco in Salamanca, Spain, called Casa Lis (Lily House), which Miguel de Lis, an industrial tanner passionate about art nouveau, had built. The collection of dancers from Chiparus is part of the private collection of the antique dealer Manuel Ramos Andrade, who donated it to the museum.