Art Deco bronze elephant bookends Ary Bitter Susse Freres Foundry, 1920

Ary Bitter was an important French artist, best known for his animal sculptures. He was a designer, painter, and sculptor in various mediums including plaster. In 1910, his work l’Enfant au chevreau received an honorable mention and he carried off the school’s “Chenavard” prize. The following year, in 1911, he won the “Lemaire” prize, and a year later, in 1912, he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français and was a regular exhibitor there up until 1939. Bitter won a bronze medal at the 1913 Salon and the silver medal at the 1921 Salon. In 1913, he worked on a public fountain in Nantes. In 1921, he was commissioned to work on the Sanary-sur-Merwar memorial as well as those in the Marseille cemeteries of St Louis and St Jérôme. In 1923, Bitter created a mascot for Mme Louis Renault’s car and in 1924 won the gold at that year’s Paris Salon The next year, he was one of the sculptors featured by the founder Susse Frères in an exhibition at the Boulevard de la Madeleine showroom. He was commissioned by Susse Frères to work with them on several limited editions. In 1927, he exhibited the work Chloé allongée at the Salon and in 1931 saw him exhibit a bronze version of Diane Chasseresse and in 1932 he was made a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur and his Cajolerie was declared hors concours at that year’s Salon. In 1935, Bitter showed two works at the Salon, Léda and Le Cygne. Further honors followed when in 1937 he was awarded a gold medal at the Exposition Internationale des Arts et des Techniques de Paris and he was invited to show work at the “Palais de la Céramique” and the “Palais du Métal”. Bitter was also given a diplôme d’honneur by the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts.