Created in 1968, this decorative architectural piece by Roger Capron, originally composed of twenty-nine ceramic panels, was commissioned by the State of Monaco to adorn the frontages of the premises beneath the seafront promenade in the Larvotto district. The enamelled terracotta tiles were mad...
Created in 1968, this decorative architectural piece by Roger Capron, originally composed of twenty-nine ceramic panels, was commissioned by the State of Monaco to adorn the frontages of the premises beneath the seafront promenade in the Larvotto district. The enamelled terracotta tiles were made using a novel technique developed by Roger Capron and Jean Derval, called “WM”. This industrial process produced unfired earth bricks with an undulating profile, alternating between raised and concave reliefs. When viewed from the side, the resulting serrated pattern appears to form the letters WM. The raw bricks were then worked using ceramic sculpting tools to create raised motifs, before being fired and enamelled. While Roger Capron used sandstone for most of his ‘WM’ brick pieces, the panels seen at Larvotto promenade are some of his earliest work, and are made from faience. The commission called for a sea theme, and so the artist created stylised depictions of underwater environments with fish, seaweed and crustaceans, formed by a variety of reliefs and iridescent shades of pink and white. When redevelopment work on Larvotto beach began in September 2019, this important artwork was entrusted to the care of the curators at the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco. Of the twenty-nine panels originally displayed in Larvotto, twelve remained at the site, while two others had previously been removed and installed on the façade of the cruise terminal by the new sea wall. Following major conservation and restoration work, twelve of the panels created for Larvotto will be displayed at the Galerie des Salines, which opened in May 2024.
Born in Vincennes near Paris in 1922, Roger Capron was an influential French artist who was instrumental in the revival of ceramic art in the 1950s and 60s. He learned his craft at the École des Arts Appliqués in Paris, where his fellow students included Robert Picault and Jean Derval, and together they founded their studio, Atelier Callis, in Vallauris in 1946. In 1952, with the trio having gone their separate ways, Roger Capron opened a small ceramics workshop in Vallauris, where he blended the artistic and industrial processes to create mass-production pieces. Later, from the 1960s onwards, he pivoted towards making furniture, adopting a modernist style. He was also commissioned to create several architectural ceramic works, including decorative pieces for the cruise terminal in Cannes, and the Byblos luxury hotel in Saint-Tropez. Roger Capron won many awards for his work, including the gold medal at the Milan Triennial in 1954, and has been the subject of several dedicated exhibitions, including a major 2003 retrospective at the National Ceramics Museum in Sèvres. Roger Capron died in Cannes in 2006.
