Max Le Verrier

Max Le Verrier was born on 29 January 1891 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France to a French father that was a goldsmith and jeweler, and a mother from Belgium.[3] His parents separated when he was a child and he spent a lot of time in boarding schools. He served as a pilot in the French Army during World War I.[3]

Bronze box by Max Le Verrier

Le Verrier attended Geneva University of Art and Design (formerly École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Genève), studying under Marcel Bouraine and Pierre Le Faguays.[3] He returned to Paris by 1919.[3]

In 1925, he showed his work at the Exposition internationale des Arts décoratifs et industriels modernes in Paris, where he won a gold metal.[3] His first popular sculpture was a pelican in 1925.[4] In 1921, Le Verrier married Jeanne Hubrecht, together they had two children. In the early 1920s, he inherited a small metal foundry and by 1926 he started making decorative objects in his own workshop.[3]

During World War II, Le Verrier's house was used as a dead drop for the Resistance. He was arrested in 1944 for his connection to the Nazi resistance.[3] He was able to reopen studio after the war.[3]

His workshop was located at 30 rue Deparcieux, and he had a small shop located at 100 rue du Théâtre in Paris.[1] Le Verrier's studio created bronze lamps, ashtrays, bookends, desk sets, and hood ornaments; often featuring nude women or animals in an Art Deco style.[3] He used a few different patina styles, included the notable "greenie" style, and often mounted them on Italian marble bases.[3] Besides bronze, he also worked with ivory, zinc, terracotta, and ceramics. He also cast work for other sculptors, including Pierre Le Faguays,[4] Marcel Bouraine,[4] André Vincent Becquerel,[1] and Jules Edmont Masson.[1]

Le Verrier died on 6 June 1973 in Paris.

His work can be found in public museum collections, including at the Musée d'Orsay.[5] Le Verrier's great grandson Damien Blanchet continued to produce his sculptures after his death, under the name Maison Max Le Verrier.[1]