Philippe HIQUILY

Do you own a piece by Philippe Hiquily and would you like to know more about the work and its value? Our Experts will carry out a free appraisal of your furniture, provide you with an estimate of the market price, and help you to sell it at the best price.

Status, price and estimation of Designer Philippe HIQUILY

Price of a signed piece of furniture at auction: €1,000 – €80,000

Estimate for a sculpture by Hiquily: €2,000 – 150,000

Estimated cost of a luminaire: €3,000 – €30,000

If you would like to have a piece of furniture by the artist appraised, our design experts are available for a free appraisal.

A desire to be on the fringe of the art market

Philippe HIQUILY (1925-2013) was a unique French artist. A sculptor, but also a furniture designer, HIQUILY kept away from the art market and artistic movements. A free spirit, a hedonist, he gives his works a dreamlike and surrealist spirit.

The almost omnipresent eroticism and the delicacy of his creations contrast with the crude aspect of the recycled materials he uses as a basis. Hiquily entered the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris in 1953. He quickly attended the César studio, but developed a personal approach to sculpture: he used sheet metal, which was less expensive than bronze, and welded it using the direct metal technique. His meeting with the artist Germaine RICHIER was decisive: she advised him, encouraged him and even commissioned him to make bases and stands for his own sculptures.

The success of his sculptures

Hiquily quickly became one of the young artists who were making a name for themselves in Saint-Germain-des-Prés and after two exhibitions in the Palmes and Galerie du Dragon galleries, he was contacted by the New York gallery The Contemporaries. The exhibition, organised in 1959, was a success. All the works were sold and one of them was acquired by the Guggenheim Museum. His success was echoed in France, and in the same year his sculpture “Jeremiah” won the Critics’ Prize at the first Paris Biennale.

At the beginning of the 1960s, he was spotted by the decorator Henri Samuel and quickly became a reference in the decoration world. This lucrative activity allowed him to continue making sculptures.

From the 1980s onwards, greatly influenced by the work of the American artist Alexander CALDER, he explored the question of mobility, balance and movement. By integrating electric motors into his works, he adds a new dimension to the traditional conception of sculpture.

Proven institutional recognition

His fame grew and his work was embedded in history and everyday life: The artist receives public commissions (such as a 6-metre high “Marathonienne” for the city of Vitry-sur-Seine, in 1981) and his work is represented in numerous museums (MOMA & Guggenheim, New York; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington; Museum of Contemporary Art, Montreal; Musée National d’Art Moderne and Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Musée d’Art Moderne de La Havane)

HIQUILY is an artist who harbours pleasure and enchantment. He has changed our relationship to the work of art not only by giving sculpture multiple facets – sometimes an art object, sometimes furniture – but above all by placing it at the centre of an interventionist approach with the introduction of the rocking game (“La Funambuleuse” 1981], the “Pirouettes 1985-1990], the “Galipettes [1988 – 2000], “La Claudinette“ [1999], “La Sauteuse” [2002]).

Appraise and sell a sculpture by Philippe Hiquily

If you own a Philippe Hiquily furniture or any other sculpture, 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.