Max le Verrier

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DECONAMIC is the official reseller of Max Le Verrier Art Deco lamps, sculptures and objects for the Benelux.
All items are cast by the great-grandson of Max Le Verrier using the original moulds.
A certificate of authenticity is provided with each item.

You’ll find an overview of available lamps and sculptures on this page.
Best-sellers are Art Deco lamps like Clarté various sizes, the Espana lamp, animals like the Baghera and Ouganda panthers, Delassement bookends etc.
All other models can be ordered.
Please contact us for more information.

HISTORY
Max Le Verrier, 1891 – 1973

Louis Octave Maxime Le Verrier was born in Neuilly sur Seine to a Belgian mother and a Parisian father who was a goldsmith and jeweller. He served in the French army during the First World War before studying at the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva where he met the artists and fellow students Pierre Le Faguays and Marcel Bouraine; the three artists became life-long friends.

In 1919 Max Le Verrier opened his own foundry, producing sculptures and decorative objects, lamps, bookends and car mascots. Drawn by his love of animals to zoos and circuses, he carved his first sculpture, the famous pelican in a typical 1925’s style. He signed the work with his pseudonym Artus. 

During this period Max Le Verrier created many models of animals f.e. panthers like Baghera, Ouganda and Jungle, an impressive Lion, storks, squirrels and horses most of which where cast in art metal in preference to bronze. 
It was in front of the cages of the Jardin des Plantes that Max le Verrier created his work monkey with umbrella, a three-year-old chimpanzee who answered to the pretty name of Boubou.
A great friendship was born between the monkey and the artist. Boubou held by the zookeeper outside the cage, agreed to strike a pose in exchange for bananas. Moreover, every morning, he looked at the side of the entrance to wait for the one who was going to immortalize him in.
The sculpture Pluie received a medal at the Salon des Humoristes in 1927.

Among the artists whose work he cast were the sculptors:
Pierre Le Faguays, pseudonym Fayral, Marcel Bouraine, pseudonym Derenne & Briand, Raymonde Guerbe, Jules Masson, Charles, Janle, Denis, De Marco and Garcia as well as his own works.
These items were sold in the atelier at 100 rue du Théâtre in Paris. 

Max Le Verrier was a Full Member of the Société des Artistes Décorateurs and exhibited there regularly. He had a stand at the 1925 Paris Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels in the Grand Palais, where his display was awarded a Gold Medal. 
His stand at the 1937 Paris International Exhibition was awarded a Medal of Honour.

In 1928 Max Le Verrier carved from a live model, his famous Clarté lamp which depicted a nude woman on tip-toe with an illuminated globe in her outstretched hands, the main piece of art of his collection.
In fact, he needed 3 different life models: one for the head, another one for the chest, and one for the legs. For this last part, he asked a dancer playing in Josephine Baker’s ballets to pose. 
This model came in 4 sizes, Lueur Lumineuse, Lumina, Clarté, Clarté life size.
The majority of Le Verrier’s figurines are of maidens with a similar idealized athleticism.

The Clarté lamp was displayed in the exhibition Lumières at the Georges Pompidou Center from May to August 1985 but also in 1987 the exhibition Made in France at Harrod’s in London and in the exhibition De main de maître at the Grand Palais in Paris.
It was also exhibited in the Martinez hotel in Cannes in 2000.

Max Le Verrier worked throughout the 1930s.
He was arrested in 1944 for his work in the French Resistance, but after the War he continued to sculpt until his death in 1973.Â