César and the poetry of industrial chemistry

The Marseilles sculptor's liquid polyurethane expansions, in a portrait by Pierre Restany, the critic whose name is linked to the birth of Nouveau Réalisme and to the history of Domus magazine.

Originally published in Domus 462/August 1968

At 6 pm on 24 April '68, the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome was the theatre of a remarkable happening, during which the artist César presented three of his expansions: three castings of liquid polyurethane, poured thirty litres at a time, in blue, yellow and red, watched by enthralled spectators as the material expanded upon contact with the air and instantly hardened into enormous forms stretching across the floor.

1960 was a seminal year in the work of the greatest contemporary French sculptor: the year of César's famous compressions. It also witnessed the artist's attachment to Nouveau Réalisme, following the scandal caused at the Salon de Mai by the presence of cars compressed into three one-ton 'bales' exhibited as sculptures. Walking through a scrap metal yard one day, César had received the revelation of this superior stage of metal. He had been so struck by the beauty of those 'bales', compressed and gauged on leaving the hydraulic press, that he adopted them as his own sculptures. Compression was identified with the terminal stage of an appropriation, with an increasingly direct possession of material gained by the artist.

At 6 pm on April 24, 1968, the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome was the scene of a series of outdoor <i>happenings.</i> The audience had come to witness three polyurethane liquid <i>expansions</i> by César—casts of thirty liters at a time: one blue, one yellow, one red—to expand upon contact with the air and instantly harden into grand shapes on the floor. — At 6 pm on April 24, 1968, the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome was the scene of a series of outdoor *happenings.* The audience had come to witness three polyurethane liquid *expansions* by César—casts of thirty liters at a time: one blue, one yellow, one red—to expand upon contact with the air and instantly harden into grand shapes on the floor.

After the scandal, compressions became fashionable along the Rive Droite. Torn between contrary impulses, and not sufficiently freed from his classical past, César went into crisis for three years. But he emerged with a brilliantly inaugurated second chapter of his quantitative mechanical language, through giant enlargements of the imprint of his own thumb. His studies of plastic casting processes soon brought him to another pivotal discovery: polyurethane, a plastic resin that crystallizes in air while considerably increasing its volume. Conscious of the metamorphic magic of this chemical reaction, César set about displaying it to the world. His public expansions took him from Paris to Lund and Munich, from London to Rome. The world's most celebrated modern art museums are proud today to boast expansions by César among their collections. These mounds of brightly coloured solid foam have the definitive beauty of organically free forms, and their occupation of space is the pure and simple result of a chemical process carried to completion.

The critic Pierre Restany with César. Photo, Casali-Domus.

Awareness of the immense scope for expression afforded by that synthetic material rejuvenated César. The homo faber in him gave way to the homo ludens, eternally dazzled by the metamorphic power of modern nature. When the Marseilles-born sculptor was about to experiment with that new idiom of contemporary technology, the Musée National d'Art Moderne finally decided to include a compression in the collections of the French State. Eight years after! Better late than never! The Director of the Mobilier National on the other hand jumped at the opportunity, giving César carte blanche to create environmental objects and furniture and functional expansions in polyurethane. César's efforts turned towards the range of different textures offered by his material: hard, soft, semi-supple, etc. Free, supple forms thus came to define rest spaces and sofa-castings. The hardest expansions could be treated as carpentry or moulded at right angles, whilst the measures of pigments in the resin offered an infinite variety of tones.

In 1968 César established himself as the modern demigod of polyurethane, the inspired pioneer of industrial chemistry.

An <i>expansion</i> by César in Paris. — An *expansion* by César in Paris.

César's expanded and soft furniture soon invaded ministries and embassies. There was even talk of a monumental sculpture to be cast on the steps of the Élysée!

In 1968 César established himself as the modern demigod of polyurethane, the inspired pioneer of industrial chemistry. His dazzling demonstration was bathed in the endlessly renewed joy of discovery. Which is how the great have always worked.
Pierre Restany

A <i>compression</i> and an <i>expansion</i> by César in Paris. — A *compression* and an *expansion* by César in Paris.

César and the poetry of industrial chemistry

The Marseilles sculptor's liquid polyurethane expansions, in a portrait by Pierre Restany, the critic whose name is linked to the birth of Nouveau Réalisme and to the history of Domus magazine.

More recent

Latest on Domus