L'odalisque au drapé, Circa 2012

Marc Petit   Emerging artists

Marc Petit, born in Saint-Céré in the Lot region in 1961, is today considered by galleries and the art market to be one of the greatest living contemporary sculptors.

At the age of 14, he tried sculpture and discovered this technique. He comes from a family of artisans, he left high school quickly, and devoted himself to carving stone. But it was through two encounters that his technique and life, took up a whole new meaning. Marc petit came across two sculptors from Beaux-Arts Paris, and they became his mentors. René Fournier and Jean Lorquin. Both of them will give him a sharp eye and thoughts on sculpture.

René Fournier took him towards the art of modeling and provided him with the teachings of Marcel Gimond, a legendary sculptor of the 20th century, known for his creations of busts of political figures or the artistic scene. Jean Lorquin had himself won the Prix de Rome in 1949 and was resident at the Villa Medicis, he provided Petit with a know-how on sculpture and mainly a deep reflexion.

With bronze, terra cotta and plaster, Marc Petit created his first sculptures of human beings. Lonely characters with a gloomy look. They seemed lost, and were dominated by oppressiveness or spite. The body has a tired, disembodied look. One doesn't know if it's a tragedy or a floating moment, like a soul wandering in a limbo. When we are in front of these figures, we put a distance but a voyeuristic one, more confused rather than empathetic.

Marc Petit realized his first personal exhibition at the age of 24 and slowly made his name among galleries and collectors.