César Baldaccini (1921-1998)

Original lithograph on Arches vellum paper, signed lower right “César”, numbered lower left “51/100”. Edition of 100 copies, produced in the second half of the 1970s, a period when the artist transposed his research on the compressed form and texture of crumpled metal onto paper. This lithograph takes up César’s emblematic theme: the compression of metallic materials. Here, the motif is no longer a rigid cube, but a surface of crushed, lacerated, folded and stratified sheet metal, rendered by a subtle play of shadows and highlights. The steel blue and anthracite grey tones, mixed with light flashes, admirably translate the density and reflections of the polished metal. The composition is animated by a contained energy; the mechanical gesture here becomes an abstract, almost lyrical pictorial language. In the mid-1970s, César multiplied the graphic interpretations of his Compressions. These lithographs, often published by the Mourlot or Maeght workshops, accompanied his major Parisian and Venetian exhibitions. They were distributed by the Beaubourg (Pierre Nahon) and Maeght galleries, and today constitute an important part of his engraved work. Their interest lies in the translation, through drawing, of the plastic vocabulary that the artist forged in sculpture: fold, density, imprint, tension. Typical handwritten signature of César, with a broad “C” and an underlined final “r”. Pencil numbering, left: 51/100. Thick laid paper, slightly yellowed by time, consistent with the original editions. Authentic work and consistent with the lithographic production of 1975-1978.