Philippe Hiquily

Born in Montmartre in 1925, French sculptor and designer Philippe Hiquily studied at the Lycée Pothier, the Collège Saint Euverte, and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Orléans between 1936 and 1944. Later, he studied at the École Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Paris alongside Gimond-Janniau and César, and frequented the ateliers of sculptors Jean Tinguely and Germain Richier. Hiquily graduated in 1953 and opened his own studio that same year in Paris.

In 1959, he won the Critic’s Prize for sculpture at the Paris Biennial, and also exhibited work at New York gallery, The Contemporaries—where he met renowned American artists and dealers, including Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. Over the course of his career, he also had ties to Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp, as well as the surrealist artists Max Ernst and Georges Bataille, among others.

Known for his works in metal, Hiquily spent the first decade of his career creating abstract, figurative sculptures primarily in iron, brass, and aluminum. In the 1960s, he expanded his focus and began designing furniture as well. During the 1980s, he created mobile sculptures propelled by electric motors.