Henri Laurens

Do you own a work by Henri Laurens and would you like to know more about its value? Our Experts will carry out a free appraisal of your sculpture, to provide you with an estimate of the market price, then assist you to sell at the best price.

Status, price and estimation of the artist Henri Laurens

Price of a sculpture: 10,000 – 1,500,000 €.

Price of a drawing: 250 – 95,000 €

Estimation of a print: 45 – 2 700 €.

Price of a painting: 450 – 77 900 €.

Price of a ceramic: 30,000 – 146 200 €.

If you would like to have a sculpture by Henri Laurens appraised, our experts will take care of everything.

The career of Henri Laurens

Henri is an artist born in 1885 from a working-class family. He is self-taught, having no one in his family to connect to the art world. He enrolled in an evening course, but his experience comes mainly from his work as an ornamental sculptor.

Very lonely until 1910, he met George Braque the following year and became an unfailing friend. He exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in 1913 and at his own exhibition in 1916. His career was discreet, but important and recognised by great artists. He was awarded numerous prizes (Helena Rubinstein Prize in 1935, participation in the Venice Biennials in 1948 and 1950 and the Grand Prize at the Sao Paulo Biennial in 1953).

The discovery of cubism

He joined the Cubist movement somewhat late, in 1916, after the most virulent criticisms of the avant-garde had passed. Pictorial Cubism was a veritable revelation that caused an “inexpressible turmoil” in him, even though he had just escaped the grip of Rodin‘s work.

Laurens first began to transcribe the principles of two-dimensional cubism into three-dimensional through sculpture. He thus produced his series of Constructions, from 1915 to 1918, by making an almost literal application of the cubist processes in his synthetic period, respecting both the graphic codes and the themes represented, very often still lifes. This literal application reached its climax with the polychrome bas-reliefs created between 1919 and 1924 (The Bunch of Grapes, 1922).

Beyond synthetic cubism

He then tried to break free from the grip of synthetic cubism on his work in 1917, but was not able to do so until 1932. He began to sculpt the female body with sensuality and gravity, which also appealed to Matisse and Maillol. Often in bronze and of different sizes, his statues retain a monumental character. In this second period of his work, Laurens explores the quality of empty spaces, which he distends, stretches, swells and deforms (L’automne 1948). The influence of the so-called “primitive” arts is also felt throughout his work,

Henri Laurens enjoyed great creative freedom and a remarkable talent in the handling of space. However, he often remained somewhat scholarly in the application of the principles of cubism. Paradoxically, this is what allowed Laurens to achieve a resolutely modern expression of space.

Appraising and selling a sculpture by Henri Laurens

If you own a painting or any other sculpture by Henri Laurens, ask for a free estimate via our online form.

You will then be contacted by a member of our team of experts and auctioneers to give you an independent view of the market price of your painting. In the event of a sale, our specialists will also advise you on the various options available to sell your work at the best price.