Henri Delcambre

Henri Delcambre was born on December 17, 1911 in Marquise, a small town located between Calais and Boulogne, in Pas-de-Calais. From his youth, Delcambre showed remarkable artistic talents which was expressed in his sculptures. 

In 1935, he decided to terminate his professional career and to purchase what he has been dreaming for. He left for Paris and studied at the School of Decorative Arts. His financial situation soon became difficult. He had to deal with all his expenses by doing what he called “odd jobs" without any connection with his original training, nor with the talents he wanted to develop. It was during this period that he met Jacqueline Vaffier who become the companion of his life and his wife until she died in 1996. Not only Jacqueline Vaffier shared her life but she was also his muse and his model. As a painter, she was a teacher of drawing in public education. 

Henri Delcambre was mobilized during the second war to the African Cavalry in Algeria. Back in France, Delcambre moved to 7 Rue Daguerre in the 14th arrondissement in a small workshop on the first floor courtyard. Being an unknown sculptor, he began his career there in a difficult situation, but his passion for sculpture never ceased. Even in this difficult period, he was happy to be able to express himself through his sculptures. He created his works starting from the clay that was covered with wet cloths between two work sessions to always keep the malleability. 

After several exhibitions and his first sales, he was able to move to a new studio which was a very important step for him. In 1957, he moved to the Cité Fleurie, 65 boulevard Arago in the 14th arrondissement. He found a vast workshop on the ground floor there, with a very beautiful light coming from a double vertical and horizontal canopy. He was able to create large sculptures in the new studio He escaped from Paris during the summer months to spend time with friends, especially with the painter Desnoyer in Sète. It was the privileged moments of inspiration for Delcambre. Many of his works were named by the places that he visited. 

The death of his wife in 1996 was a terrible pain for him. He shared with her all the stages of his life as a sculptor. It took him many months before he could resume his creation “passionated but not with complete happiness," he wrote. However, he continued his work and melted many bronzes. He worked in his studio until his last moments in 2003. With perseverance and stubbornness, without ever deviating from the road that he had set for himself from an early age, he produced a remarkable number of work s comprising more than three hundred sculptures, busts and bas-reliefs, as well as set of over a thousand drawings in chinese ink.