Philippe Scrive (born in 1927) Model for the Swimming Pool,...
Philippe Scrive (born in 1927)
Model for the Swimming Pool, Gravelines International Sports Center, circa 1986. Terracotta. H. 6 cm, W. 77 cm, D. 20 cm
"The idea was to create supple forms rising toward the portholes so that children could lie down and rest while watching the swimmers in the water." Philippe Scrive
Born in 1927 in Ville-Marie, Témiscamingue (Quebec, Canada), Philippe Scrive developed a genuine fascination with wood—which abounds in the surrounding Canadian forests—as early as his teenage years. From massive, unprocessed logs—shaped with a chainsaw, sledgehammer, and chisel—he brought forth soft, fluid, and generously rounded forms, transforming the roughness of the material and the brutality of the labor into a sculptural language of great sensitivity.
It was in the wake of World War I that Philippe Scrive’s father—a member of a prominent textile family from Lille—decided to leave everything behind and move to Canada. Philippe thus spent his childhood living like a trapper at the end of the world “in a bottomless forest”*. Driven by a vivid imagination, he decided to pursue artistic studies and enrolled at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Québec. His thirst for discovery quickly led him, as early as 1952 (at the age of only 19), to set off for “the place of endless possibilities”: Paris. There, he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts. The culture shock was immense, and his life as an artist and as a man would bear witness to it.
In Paris, he met Brancusi, Le Corbusier, and Frank Lloyd Wright, who left a profound mark on him, as evidenced by his colossal works—both archaic and vibrant—whose verticality always engages in a dialogue with the surrounding architecture. He became friends with César, who affectionately nicknamed him “The Canadian,” and, above all, with the great architect from the North (of France this time!) Jean Willerval. Numerous collaborations would punctuate their respective careers: the portico of the Lieu d’Art et d’Action Contemporaine in Dunkirk, the Palace of Justice in Lille, the Church of Saint-Joseph in Nevers, and so on.
These monumental works were installed in Paris (Boulevard de Port Royal), Montreuil (the monumental fountain from 1976, which has since, alas, been dismantled…), and Dunkirk, as well as in Korea and, of course, in his native Montreal. They command the space with their spectacular dimensions. At the same time, in his studio in Fontenay-aux-Roses, he pursues a more personal artistic exploration through smaller-scale sculptures and the use of a wide variety of materials: in addition to wood, he soon began working with thermoformed PVC, metal, stone, and more… Scrive is eager to create, and he creates generously.
Whatever the nature of the material—wood, slate slabs found in the Cévennes, marble, bronze, PVC, or even bricks—he reveals its malleability by favoring supple lines that delicately intertwine. His approach to art is what gives his work its coherence: throughout his life, he has used whatever materials have been available to him, combining technical mastery with formal harmony.
“When I create a sculpture,” he admits, “it is the material at my disposal, rather than the subject, that serves as the starting point; I then proceed by assembling lines and forms. It is often in the very disorder that results from this process that I find the true meaning of my work. Nature offers us all kinds of materials that stimulate my imagination to find ways to shape them as I see fit.”
Throughout his career, Philippe Scrive has developed a unique artistic vocabulary, filled with raw, organic forms and a diverse array of creatures. His creatures—sometimes playful and mischievous, sometimes powerful and silent—seem imbued with a presence and reveal the personality of their creator, who, at 99 years old today, still embodies all these qualities! They invite the eye to move freely between abstraction and figuration.
Having participated on several occasions in the Salon de Mai and the Salon de La Jeune Sculpture, he has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the CRAC at the Château de Tremblay in 1996, at the Musée d’art et d’histoire de Meudon in 2002, and elsewhere. In 1972, he received the Prix de la Jeune Sculpture, and in 2008, the Prix de la Sculpture from the Institut de France for his entire body of work (at the same time that Geneviève Asse received the prize for painting!). More recently, in 2017, his sculptures were exhibited at the Chapelle de Clairefontaine in Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines.
*In the words of his daughter, Marguerite Scrive, in *Philippe Scrive: From Quebec to Paris*, 2009.
Philippe Scrive (born in 1927)
Model for the Swimming Pool, Gravelines International Sports Center, circa 1986. Terracotta. H. 6 cm, W. 77 cm, D. 20 cm
"The idea was to create supple forms rising toward the portholes so that children could lie down and rest while watching the swimmers in the water." Philippe Scrive
Born in 1927 in Ville-Marie, Témiscamingue (Quebec, Canada), Philippe Scrive developed a genuine fascination with wood—which abounds in the surrounding Canadian forests—as early as his teenage years. From massive, unprocessed logs—shaped with a chainsaw, sledgehammer, and chisel—he brought forth soft, fluid, and generously rounded forms, transforming the roughness of the material and the brutality of the labor into a sculptural language of great sensitivity.
It was in the wake of World War I that Philippe Scrive’s father—a member of a prominent textile family from Lille—decided to leave everything behind and move to Canada. Philippe thus spent his childhood living like a trapper at the end of the world “in a bottomless forest”*. Driven by a vivid imagination, he decided to pursue artistic studies and enrolled at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Québec. His thirst for discovery quickly led him, as early as 1952 (at the age of only 19), to set off for “the place of endless possibilities”: Paris. There, he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts. The culture shock was immense, and his life as an artist and as a man would bear witness to it.
In Paris, he met Brancusi, Le Corbusier, and Frank Lloyd Wright, who left a profound mark on him, as evidenced by his colossal works—both archaic and vibrant—whose verticality always engages in a dialogue with the surrounding architecture. He became friends with César, who affectionately nicknamed him “The Canadian,” and, above all, with the great architect from the North (of France this time!) Jean Willerval. Numerous collaborations would punctuate their respective careers: the portico of the Lieu d’Art et d’Action Contemporaine in Dunkirk, the Palace of Justice in Lille, the Church of Saint-Joseph in Nevers, and so on.
These monumental works were installed in Paris (Boulevard de Port Royal), Montreuil (the monumental fountain from 1976, which has since, alas, been dismantled…), and Dunkirk, as well as in Korea and, of course, in his native Montreal. They command the space with their spectacular dimensions. At the same time, in his studio in Fontenay-aux-Roses, he pursues a more personal artistic exploration through smaller-scale sculptures and the use of a wide variety of materials: in addition to wood, he soon began working with thermoformed PVC, metal, stone, and more… Scrive is eager to create, and he creates generously.
Whatever the nature of the material—wood, slate slabs found in the Cévennes, marble, bronze, PVC, or even bricks—he reveals its malleability by favoring supple lines that delicately intertwine. His approach to art is what gives his work its coherence: throughout his life, he has used whatever materials have been available to him, combining technical mastery with formal harmony.
“When I create a sculpture,” he admits, “it is the material at my disposal, rather than the subject, that serves as the starting point; I then proceed by assembling lines and forms. It is often in the very disorder that results from this process that I find the true meaning of my work. Nature offers us all kinds of materials that stimulate my imagination to find ways to shape them as I see fit.”
Throughout his career, Philippe Scrive has developed a unique artistic vocabulary, filled with raw, organic forms and a diverse array of creatures. His creatures—sometimes playful and mischievous, sometimes powerful and silent—seem imbued with a presence and reveal the personality of their creator, who, at 99 years old today, still embodies all these qualities! They invite the eye to move freely between abstraction and figuration.
Having participated on several occasions in the Salon de Mai and the Salon de La Jeune Sculpture, he has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the CRAC at the Château de Tremblay in 1996, at the Musée d’art et d’histoire de Meudon in 2002, and elsewhere. In 1972, he received the Prix de la Jeune Sculpture, and in 2008, the Prix de la Sculpture from the Institut de France for his entire body of work (at the same time that Geneviève Asse received the prize for painting!). More recently, in 2017, his sculptures were exhibited at the Chapelle de Clairefontaine in Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines.
*In the words of his daughter, Marguerite Scrive, in *Philippe Scrive: From Quebec to Paris*, 2009.
