Philippe Hiquily

Philippe Hiquily, a reluctant hero, came into this life on a path that would often tempt him to stray away under the onslaught of an unpredictable destiny. His incongruous endeavors seemingly deviating from the initial goal only appear to do so and actually push it forward in a single direction. His path reveals a unity captured by his work. An alert mind, actively engaged in restless questioning, attests to an independence that kept him at a distance from groups. Never fully agreeing with the Surrealists, nor with the abstract artists, he exploited an aesthetic vein whose enchantment would never run dry. Philippe Hiquily was born in Montmartre in 1925. Upon completing his secondary education at Victor Duruy Lycée, at age 18 he enlisted in the French Resistance alongside his father. When the war ended, he briefly enrolled in the School of Beaux-Arts of Orléans before joining the Leclerc Division and leaving for Indochina where he was from 1945 to 1947. After returning to France, he enrolled in the École des Beaux-Arts à Paris and studied sculpture in the studios of Janniot and de Gimond where he became friends with César, Albert Féraud and Michel Guino. All of them would choose to work in metal, after acquiring basic knowledge in sculpture. They mastered the study of live models and the steps involved in modeling and working in plaster, clay and ceramic to hone their manual dexterity. Hiquily left the School of Beaux-Arts in 1953 after receiving the Prix de Sculpture for his Neptune, a monumental work in iron. However, he rejected any system that would hinder the independence of his work.