Léopold Chauveau. In the Land of Monsters.
Catalogue of the exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris from March 10 to June 29, 2020.

Léopold Chauveau. In the Land of Monsters.

NMR
Regular price €40,00 €0,00 Unit price per
N° d'inventaire 22759
Format 18.5 x 26
Détails 256 p., 170 ill., publisher's hardcover.
Publication Paris, 2020
Etat Nine
ISBN 9782711875047

An atypical personality, Léopold Chauveau (1870-1940), alongside his work as a doctor, which he embraced out of family obligation, took refuge very early on in a strange artistic universe, as singular as it was original. Simultaneously a sculptor, illustrator, and author of books for adults and children, he remained forgotten by art history for a long time, before a donation from his grandson to the Musée d'Orsay in 2017 brought his name back into the spotlight. He began sculpting around 1905, and soon, monsters became a leitmotif in his work, both in sculpture and drawing. Hybrid creatures, his are often endearing, clumsy, and as if surprised by their own presence. Seeming to emerge from his unconscious, they are true companions, the inhabitants of an imaginary world in which Léopold Chauveau would find refuge. Despite their singularity, these strange sculpted monsters can be placed in a genealogy of art history: medieval gargoyles, hybrid creatures of Hieronymus Bosch, manga... From monstrous landscapes - antediluvian and desert expanses where biomorphic monsters evolve and engage in strange activities - to the illustration of great classics (the Old and New Testaments, La Fontaine's Fables...), Léopold Chauveau has never ceased to create captivating and fantastic stories. The book is a complete rediscovery of an unparalleled work.

An atypical personality, Léopold Chauveau (1870-1940), alongside his work as a doctor, which he embraced out of family obligation, took refuge very early on in a strange artistic universe, as singular as it was original. Simultaneously a sculptor, illustrator, and author of books for adults and children, he remained forgotten by art history for a long time, before a donation from his grandson to the Musée d'Orsay in 2017 brought his name back into the spotlight. He began sculpting around 1905, and soon, monsters became a leitmotif in his work, both in sculpture and drawing. Hybrid creatures, his are often endearing, clumsy, and as if surprised by their own presence. Seeming to emerge from his unconscious, they are true companions, the inhabitants of an imaginary world in which Léopold Chauveau would find refuge. Despite their singularity, these strange sculpted monsters can be placed in a genealogy of art history: medieval gargoyles, hybrid creatures of Hieronymus Bosch, manga... From monstrous landscapes - antediluvian and desert expanses where biomorphic monsters evolve and engage in strange activities - to the illustration of great classics (the Old and New Testaments, La Fontaine's Fables...), Léopold Chauveau has never ceased to create captivating and fantastic stories. The book is a complete rediscovery of an unparalleled work.