Charles Malfray (1887–1940), Bridge Over The Loire, Oil On Cardboard Mounted On Panel

Charles MALFRAY
1887, Orléans – 1940, Dijon

Bridge over the Loire
oil on cardboard mounted on panel
22 x 50 cm
signed lower right
panel: 23 x 51.5 cm
slight loss in the lower right corner, craquelures

Charles Malfray belongs to the generation of sculptors who, following Rodin, contributed to the renewal of French sculpture in the early 20th century. His work is part of a shift toward a more constructed and synthetic style of sculpture, following in the tradition of Bourdelle and Maillol, among others. Born in 1887 in Orléans to a family of stonemasons, he first trained under the Orléans-based sculptor Alfred Lanson, then at the École des Beaux-Arts in Orléans. Beginning in 1904, he continued his studies in Paris at the École des Arts Décoratifs and the École des Beaux-Arts, where he took a particular interest in Rodin and Bourdelle.

Drafted during World War I, he fought in the Battle of Verdun in 1916 and was gassed during the fighting. After the war, he resumed his studies and won the second Prix de Rome in 1920. He then designed, together with his brother Henri, an architect, the war memorials in Pithiviers and Orléans. Beginning in 1930, thanks to Aristide Maillol, Malfray taught at the Académie Ranson, where he trained, among others, Étienne Martin, François Stahly, and Jean Le Moal. His first solo exhibition took place in 1931 at the Galerie Paquereau in Paris. He also received several public commissions during the 1930s.

In addition to sculpture, Malfray practiced drawing and painting. Several of his landscape paintings are now housed at the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris. His interest in landscape is particularly evident in this oil painting depicting a metal bridge spanning the Loire River. This work thus illustrates another facet of his body of work, one that is less well known today than his sculptures.

He died suddenly in Dijon on May 28, 1940, at the age of fifty-two. His work would receive significant posthumous recognition, beginning with a monograph dedicated to his oeuvre published in 1944, followed notably by a major retrospective exhibition at the Petit Palais in Paris in 1947.