Demétre Haralamb Chiparus (1886-1947)
was a Romanian sculptor and ceramist of the Art Deco movement. He made a name for himself particularly through his decorative small figures.
The life of A Demétre Chiparus
He was born on September 16, 1886 in Dorohoi, Romania. 1909 he went to Italy to study. His master was the sculptor Raffaello Romanelli. In 1912 he moved on to Paris to attend the École des Beaux-Arts, where he also studied under Jean Boucher and Antonin Mercie.
During his time in France he improved his chryselephantine technique, a technique that combines different materials like ivory and bronze. By making a chryselephantine figure the quality of the ivory is less important than the quality and the decoration of the bronze part of the sculpture.
After he improved this technique, he becomes one of the most important artists making such statues. His favored theme was picturing dancing woman.
Influences on his works
The artist created many statues of children. These are very realistic works. He exhibited them at the Salon in Paris. Later he focused on creating statues of dancing woman and since the 1940th he made statues of animals. The dancing sculptures as well as the animal sculptures were made as Art Déco objects.
He also produced sculptures during the time of World War II, but he didn't sell them because of the unfortunate economic situation. So Dimitri Chiparus just created statues for his own pleasure.
His figures of dancing woman got influenced by his love to Russian dancers as well as French dancers, the French theatre, French fashion and his interest in Egyptian culture. Some of his figures of dancers are images of the Russian dancers Ida Rubinstein and Vaslav Nijinski. His statues of Egyptian beauties are results of his interest in this culture.
The figures of Demetre Haralamb Chiparus belong to the best known Art Deco figures ever. Characterized by craftsmanship, his figures are adorable and beautiful portrays of the spirit and lifestyle of the Art Deco period during the 1920th and the 1930th.
The Romanian artist died on January 22, 1947 in France at the age of 87 and was buried at the Bagneux cemetery. Some of his best known figures are Starfish, A Dancer, Cleopatra, Delhi Dancer and Dancer with Ring. Every single figure is signed with the artist`s name and positioned on a marble base.