César Baldaccini (1 January 1921 in Marseille - 6 December 1998 in Paris), usually called César was a noted French sculptor at the forefront of the Nouveau Réalisme movement with his radical compressions (compacted automobiles, discarded metal, or rubbish), expansions (polyurethane foam sculptures), and fantastic representations of animals and insects.

He was a French sculptor, born in 1921 of Italian parents in the working class neighborhood of la Belle-de-Mai in Marseilles. His father was a cooper and bar owner. The artist's full name was César Baldaccini, but is usually known as César. After studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Marseilles (1935-9) he went on to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1943-8). He began making sculptures by welding together pieces of scrap metal in 1952 and first made his reputation with solid welded sculptures of insects, various kinds of animals, nudes, etc.

His first one-man exhibition at the Galerie Lucien Durand, Paris, 1954.

His early work used soldered and welded metal as well as junk materials, and by 1960 César was considered one of France's leading sculptors. In that year on a visit to a scrap merchant in search of metal, he saw a hydraulic crushing machine in operation, and decided to experiment with it in his sculpture. He astonished his followers by showing three crushed cars at a Paris exhibition. It was for these 'Compressions' that César became renowned. César selected particular cars for crushing, mixing elements from differently coloured vehicles. In this way he could control the surface pattern and colour scheme of the piece.

Later the same year joined the Nouveaux Réalistes (New Realists) with Arman, Klein, Raysse, Tinguely, Pierre Restany and others who found their inspiration in urban life.

In 1965 he started to work with plastics, first with plastic moulds of human imprints, then from 1966 by pouring expanded polyurethane which was allowed to expand and solidify. He gave up making welded metal sculpture in 1966 and organized a series of Happenings from 1967-1970 in which he produced expansions in the presence of an audience. His later works also include sculptures made out of molten crystal.

In 1995 he was asked to paint a Mclaren F1 GTR that participated at the famous 24 hour Le Mans. The car Chassis GTR5 is still in the livery created by Cesar and represents the only 'Art Car" on the iconic Mclaren.

He is the creator of the César du cinéma trophy, which awards the best in French cinema. He was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur on 22 January 1978 and promoted Officier (Officer) in 1993.

He married Rosine and had one daughter Anna.

He died in Paris in December 1998. Following his death there was an extended dispute over his will between his widow and daughter on the one hand and Stéphanie Busuttil, his companion at the time of his death on the other.

One can see examples of his work at a number of places such as le Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou (Bas relief, Tortue, le Diable), at the Musée d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris (Facel Véga), his grave at the Cemetery of Montparnasse, on the esplanade de La Défense (Le Pouce), in Marseille on the avenue de Hambourg near the MAC and the Bonneveine Centre (Le Pouce Géant)...

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9sar_Baldaccini

César Baldaccini dit César was a French sculptor. Born in 1921 in Marseille, France, César pursued formal training at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris until 1948. Despite having received classical academic training, he instead turned his focus to the inspiration he found from scrap metal and the language of its materiality, becoming a pioneering member of the Nouveau Réalisme movement and inventing new techniques utilising inexpensive materials that are still employed within contemporary art contexts.

He later went on to represent France at the 1995 Venice Biennale, and today his work can be found in established collections including the Tate Gallery in London, The Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Cesar Baldaccini was born in 1921 in Marseille, France. The French sculptor des Nouveau Réalisme has been known since the 1960s for his "compressions" made from wrecked cars and other materials. 1959-1968 César was represented at the documenta II-IV in Kassel. The French film prize "César", created by him and named after him, has been awarded since 1976.