Pyegemalion and Cavalle, original preparatory plasters, by J.Silva, France 1979

Two original preparatory plasters for the marble group conceived in 1979 following a commission from « la société d’économie mixte pour l’aménagement des Halles » (SEMAH) and placed in the Forum des Halles in Paris.
The work takes the form of a set of five humanoid forms with characteristics of female nudes.
Four of the figures stand together on the right of the sculpture, while the fifth stands on the left, leaning towards the other four. One of the figures, whose head is square in shape, is crouching; the head of another, lying down, rests on her lap.

Single figure “Cavalle”.
Height: 119 cm (46.9 inches)
Depth: 38,5 cm (15.16 inches)
Width on the top: 82 cm (32.3 inches)
Width on the ground: 57,5 cm (22.6 inches)

Group “Pyegemalion”.
Height: 119 cm (46.85 inches)
Depth: 60 cm (23.6 inches)
Width: 155 cm (61 inches)

Biography
Julio Silva (1930 – 2020)
Franco-Argentine painter and sculptor
Julio Silva was born on January 16, 1930, in Concordia, Argentina. A painter and sculptor, Julio Silva moved to Paris, France, in 1955. He collected African and Tribal Art objects. He obtained French nationality in 1967.
Julio Silva primarily works with marble for his sculptures (white Carrara marble, pink Portuguese marble, yellow Siena marble) and has traveled frequently between Paris and Carrara since 1972. He created monumental works, including:
Dame-Lune, Carrara marble (1972) : Paris, Sagéco
Génie du charbon, Carrara marble (1973) : Courrières, high school
A set of 8 sculptures (Alice au pays du marbre, Chenille, La Chouette, Colombe, Flamat, Fleur parlante et Oiseau mouillé, Igor, Le Messager) : résidence la Perralière, Villeurbanne
Damoizelle Oiseau et Leçon d’envol (1976) : Ris-Orangis
Orubourus (1976) : Saint Cyr l’Ecole, technical high school
Dame Lune (1977) : Puteaux, La Défense
Pyegemalion et Cavalle (1979) : Paris, Forum des Halles
Flamme d’eau (1980) : Lognes, gare

Envolée (polyester birds) (1989) : Paris 18ème arrondissement, nursery school.

Numerous exhibitions were devoted to Julio Silva’s work from 1959 to 2010. Julio Silva also contributed to several books:

Silvalande, drawings by Julio Silva and text by Julio Cortazar, Le Dernier terrain vague, Paris, 1977

Hashish in Marseille, text by Walter Benjamin, drawings by Julio Silva, Fata Morgana edition, Saint-Clément-de-Rivière, 2013

Paris, Capital of the 19th Century, text by Walter Benjamin, drawings by Julio Silva, Fata Morgana edition, Saint-Clément-de-Rivière, 2016.

Julio Silva died at 90 years old, on April 4, 2020, in Clamart (Hauts-de-Seine).