Marcel Louis Botinelly Art Deco Period Marble Figurine Sculpture

This lovely Art Deco period marble sculpture is known as Femme dan Robes Longues (Woman in Long Dress). It measures 24.5 by 18 x 6.75 in, features gilded decorations and carries the inscribed signature, Ls Botinelly.

The artist was born in 1883 in Digne, capital of Alpes-de-Haute Provence, and lived and worked for most of his life in Marseille where he died in 1962.  Botinelly came from a family of stone carvers. He studied sculpture with Jules Félix Coutan and sculpted two statues of Asia and Africa for the Gare St-Charles in Marseilles. He exhibited at the Salon of the Société des Artistes Français in Paris, from 1911 to 1938, was admitted as a member, and received a gold medal in 1937. He was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur in 1931.

His is known for his enormous figurative marble sculptures beside the staircase of the Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles, entitlled Colonies d'Asie and Colonies d'Afrique, installed in 1927.  Other prominent public works include statues of Joan of Art and Jesus inside the Eglise Saint-Vincent-de-Paul in Marseille, and statues of the Four Evangelists inside Marseille Cathedral.  The Boulevard Louis Botinelly in Marseille is named in his honor.  In 2006 Editions Mare et Martin published the artist's catalogue raisonne, Louis Botinelly, Sculpteur Provencal: Catalogue Raisonne, edited by Laurent Noet.  In 2001 Cahiers du Comite du vieux published Louis Botinelly, 1883-1962, edited by Luce Carbonnel.

Source:  Benezit Dictionary of Artists.