PIERRE ROCHE (Paris 1855 - 1922 Paris)

Centauress

Cast bronze with golden brown patina
8 ¼ × 7 ½ inches (21 × 19 cm)
Monogram, lower left field
c. 1895

Pierre Roche began his artistic training in the ateliers of Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) and Jules Dalou (1838-1902).  He was, in fact, a multi-faceted artist.  Roche also studied painting with Alfred Roll (1846-1919) and was a most talented printmaker and inventor of the gypsograph.  He exhibited frequently in the Paris Salons and the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts.  Roche was awarded the silver medal at the Exposition Universelle, 1900.

As a sculptor, Roche was well known for his works in many media including marble, bronze, ceramic and iron.  Like his contemporaries Alexandre Charpentier (1856 – 1909) and Émile Muller (1855 – 1901), Roche was a strong advocate for the integration of sculpture and decorative art into the avant-garde architecture of fin de siècle France.  Interestingly, at the Exposition Universelle of 1900, he also designed and produced a grand theatrical stage set for the dancer Loïe Fuller which was much admired by tout Paris.  At the same time Roger Marx asked Roche to create a beautiful cast medal of Mlle Fuller entitled Un être qui n’était que lumière or et gaze.