Georges Mathey (1887-1915) Bronze Bas Relief, the Presentation of Jesus to the Magi

Large bas-relief in patinated bronze by Georges Mathey (1887 - 1915) and signed 1912

Sculpture entitled "the presentation to the magi" and mounted on a molded and patinated oak base

Dimensions: 43 cm high, 32 cm wide and 24 cm deep.

Georges Mathey, born on May 15, 1887 at Port d'Arciat in Crêches-sur-Saône and died for France on January 7, 1915 in Thann, is a French painter and sculptor.

His father, François, runs a tile factory. Georges Mathey studied at the Mâcon high school. He was admitted to the École des beaux-arts de Lyon from 1902 to 1908, where he received numerous awards. He continued his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he was a student of Injalbert and Emmanuel Hannaux. He received a second Prix de Rome in 1910. He exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français in Paris from 1910 to 1914, where he received a bronze medal in 1911. He lost his mother the same year, which inspired him to create statuettes of Mother and Child. He then seemed destined for a brilliant future according to critics of the time. Roger Dévigne wrote: "His great idea was to draw inspiration from everyday life to decorate the natural setting of life: the home, the school, the studio, the common house... He left seven or eight hundred sketches made in the street, the crossroads, the public garden and from which all his sketches and statuettes emerged, alive: young mother seated, with the child who comes to throw himself on her knees; another mother who lifts her little one at arm's length; the Bowl of Milk; dancing girls; running children... Statuettes of movements and grace, where this tender and studious soul tried to lovingly grasp life, real life, the one whose heart harmonizes gestures... A large monument Printemps; naked young girl who wakes up dreamily with, behind her, - groups in bas-relief - a circle of children, lovers, old women... Another great work: The Chaldean Shepherd, which Mathey had designed to decorate the gardens of the Observatory... ". Mobilized during the First World War, he disappeared in the trenches of Thann, in Alsace, on January 7, 1915. His comrades only found his last work: the butt of his rifle, which he had sculpted, and which allows him to be identified. In May and June 1921, his works were exhibited at the Boutique de l'Encrier, 74 rue du Bac (Paris).
A collection of works by Georges Mathey is preserved at the Ursuline Museum in Mâcon

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