Ferdinand Parpan was born in Alfortville, France on 8日 July 1902. He was the son of a woodcarver and built on the knowledge taught to him by his father at an early age by attending extra classes in industrial design. Parpan planned to go on to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, but due to World War I he was forced to work for six years as an engraver. There was however a positive side as it was here that he started experimenting with gilded, enamelled and polished finishes and also learnt to paint.
In 1926 at the age of 24 he opened his own studio taking on numerous commissions including statues of Joan of Arc for the Deputy Mayor of Compiegne in 1930. His early work consisted of a number of quite academic religious subjects but he quickly formed his own style winning commissions from people who attended the unveiling of his public works. As the commissions increased he progressed to carving in other materials including ivory, marble, onyx and stone.
In the early 1930’s Parpan produced a series of angular sculptures of prehistoric animals and then a series of studies of musicians playing their instruments. His work was rejected by the critics however being classed as too modern and avongarde.
Like so many artists of great strength and vision his work took a long time to be accepted into main stream art and he had to wait until 1936, with his exhibition at Jacmar in Paris, to be recognised as an important sculptor.
Beginning in the 1950s he exhibited regularly at the Salon de l’Art Libre in Paris and the Salon des Indépendants. He also exhibited works at the Exposition d’Art Sacré in Vézelay in 1951 and the Salon des Conches in 1956 and 1961. He also exhibited regularly in Paris including the Salon de la Jeune Sculpture in Paris in 1956 and the Salon d’Automne in Paris in 1970.
Parpan was a “membre sociétaire” of the Salon d’Automne and the Salon des Formes Humains at the Musée Rodin.
Since the 1960’s Parpan has been critically acclaimed and is now held in standing with his contemporaries Bourdelle, Lipchitz, Archipenko, Pompon, Kirchner and Moore.
In 1994 a retrospective of his work was exhibited at the Marie du XVI Arrondissement in Paris. He was awarded a silver medal from the Ville de Paris, a vermeil medal from Arts et Lettres, and the Prix Européan de la Sculpture, in Rouen in 1991.
Parpan also exhibited outside of France winning a first place prize at the Salon des Arts in Monte Carlo. He exhibited as well in many galleries in England, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and the United States.
His animals and nudes are bold, expressive and full of movement. With his musicians he fused the instrument and player together to give a perception of the perfect harmony between the two.
Parpan opted for simplified forms and figures with use of distinct, smooth planes and clean, sleek lines; With Invocation we particularly see the influence of the Art Deco style.
The artists work is represented in various museums of Modern Art including the Musee d’Art Moderne, Paris.
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