Beyond Rules

“It is always challenging for me to speak about sculpture, as my relationship with the artwork does not fall within the domain of words,” said Jean Cardot when asked to explain his sculpture works. “For me, creation is directly inscribed in the lines of drawing, in wax, stone, and clay. The sculptor's words are those of emptiness and fullness; their sentences are written in space.”

So, Jean Cardot’s works are always seen as “beyond rules.” 

Recently, his solo exhibition "Power Beyond Rules" opened at the National Art Museum of China,

displaying 70 pieces (sets) of sculptures and 20 pieces(sets) of drawings by the academician.

An internationally renowned sculptor and member of France’s Academy of Fine Arts, Jean Cardot (1930-2020), was elected a member of the Academy of Fine Arts in 1983, then became its president in 1992 and 1997. Three of his works stand in downtown Paris: the statues of Charles de Gaulle and Winston Churchill on the Champs-Élysées, as well as that of Thomas Jefferson on the left bank of the Seine. In addition, he has over 70 large-format works exhibited in France, the United States, China, Canada, Poland, and more.

“With a solid professional foundation, his creation, based on his training in modeling, explored and created his own language in the truth of the objective world and in the law of art,” said Wu Weishan, director of the National Art Museum of China. “He respected the rules while surpassing them through his sincerity toward art.”

In recent years, the National Art Museum of China and France’s Academy of Fine Arts have maintained close cooperation. In 2019, on the occasion of an exhibition of works by sculptors who are members of the Academy of Fine Arts, titled "Immortal Heritage," Mr. Jean Cardot donated ten of his works to the museum. In 2020, he offered the museum his sculpture "Bull in Light," which currently stands in the museum's outdoor park alongside sculptures by Chinese artists, thus forming a dialogue between Eastern and Western sculptural art.

The exhibition will run through January 15, 2024.