Portrait Of Marcel Proust As A Child, By Pierre Bettencourt, 1981

Portrait of Marcel Proust at the age of 15 
After a Photograph by Paul Nadar took in 1887. 
Artwork by Pierre Bettencourt, 1981.

This high-relief portrait depicts Marcel Proust (1871-1922) as a teenager, based on a famous photograph by Félix Nadar (see photo).

The face is constructed like a mosaic, composed of eggshells, giving the surface a mineral and fragmented appearance. The hair is made from pine cones (conifer cone scales), used as repetitive sculptural elements, accentuating the relief and the organic dimension of the whole. This deliberately marked materiality evokes the passage of time, memory, and stratification, themes intimately linked to the figure of Marcel Proust.
The contrast between the highly textured face and the flat colors of the background reinforces the expressive power of the portrait, which can be read as much as an image as an object. Mixed media in high relief on wood panel. Eggshells, pine cones (conifer cone scales), assembled and painted elements, wood, painted cement for clothing (?).

(Pierre Bettencourt (July 28, 1917, Saint-Maurice-d'Ételan – April 13, 2006, Stigny) was a French writer, publisher, and visual artist. Between 1936 and 1938, he attended Paul Valéry's poetics course at the Collège de France. From 1941, he bought a hand-operated printing press and published his own texts and those of major authors (Michaux, Artaud, Ponge, Apollinaire, Dubuffet) in small print runs. He met Jean Dubuffet in 1947, and their close relationship was significant in his artistic development. Following a stay with Dubuffet in Saint-Michel-de-Chaillol in 1953, he created his first high reliefs, which became his trademark. These assemblages employ unconventional materials. (including eggshells and pine cones). In 1963, he settled in Stigny (Yonne) with Monique Apple and continued his work there until his death. His works have been exhibited notably at the Daniel Cordier Gallery (Paris). He is represented in public collections: the Centre Pompidou, for example, holds The Milky Way (1964), acquired through a donation from Daniel Cordier (1989).

Very good overall condition. Intentional wear and irregularities related to the handling of materials.
Note that the wooden strips appear to be detached on the right edge, unless this is also intentional.