Felix Agostini,
Was born in Paris on 5 July 1910.
A sculptor of bronze figures and lighting, Félix Agostini left a singular body of work, shaped by a direct hand and populated by birds and mythological creatures. Today, the maison Charles holds the exclusive rights to produce editions of his complete body of work, in close collaboration with his daughter, Dominique Kerguenne Agostini.
Drawing: his first profession
The eldest of three children, Félix Agostini grew up in Paris. His mother was from Lorraine; his father, a Corsican, was a police inspector. In 1934, aged twenty-four, he joined Draeger in Montrouge as an advertising artist and retoucher. He worked for Peugeot, Ford, Ducretet-Thomson and the singer Andrex, and designed printed fabrics for Chanel. At the same time, he began creating lighting.
Douce Lumière: from shop to bronze
In 1943, Agostini opened his first shop, Douce Lumière, on rue Boulard. It later moved to rue Vercingétorix, then to 3 rue de Penthièvre, where his first works in ceramic, wood and wrought iron were shown. His practice ranged from floor lamps and wall lights to consoles, coffee tables, headboards and door handles. Gradually, he turned to bronze.
From 1955 onwards, he modelled the forms of his lighting directly in plaster. After making a drawing, he built a wire armature, then shaped the plaster inside half of a child’s ball, using a spatula, knife or spoon. Dominique remembers his instinctive approach and the absence of any retouching: once the model was finished, her father never went back to it.
A world of birds and stars
Love, women, nature, animals and the sky all fed his imagination. He was fascinated by Halley’s Comet, visible in the year he was born. Across nearly two hundred works, Agostini developed a vocabulary of figures and elongated forms, bringing together sensuality, rigour, humour and gravity. He could draw as many as ten new pieces in a single year. Each sketch took shape in a single stroke, accompanied by detailed instructions for the foundry, the assembler and his trusted photographer, Jacques Delamarre.
In 1968, his floor lamp Échassier paid tribute to Alberto and Diego Giacometti. The dedication inscribed beneath its base attests to the importance of this homage in his work.
Summers in Mougins
Every year, Agostini presented his creations at the Cusin Gallery in Mougins. Dominique remembers her father loading all the works made that year into his Oldsmobile, packing them with meticulous care for the journey.
Berlioz’s music inspired several of Agostini’s sculptures. He chose to be laid to rest in Montmartre, in the composer’s former tomb. He died aged sixty-nine, on 19 February 1980.
Dominique and the maison Charles
After her father’s death, Dominique Kerguenne Agostini watched over his work and monitored the pieces that appeared on the market. In 2011, Michael Wagner came across Agostini’s creations at antique dealers and contacted her. Discussions and visits to the Charles workshops followed. In 2013, Dominique entrusted the maison Charles with producing an initial selection of around twenty works. Three years later, a further twenty-two bronzes were added, along with four works by Denise Pietra Corbara, the sculptor’s companion and pupil. Agostini’s works are produced from his original models and moulds, faithfully following his designs. Each piece is signed and numbered, and made to order; Dominique designs the lampshades.
In 2024, she entrusted the maison Charles with the exclusive rights to produce editions of her father’s complete body of work. Some designs had previously been made in only one, two or three examples. This new chapter allows the maison to bring the full breadth of Agostini’s work to life, in keeping with the original models and the standards of art bronzework.
