Max Sauze Biography
The Franco-Algerian metal master, Max Sauze, was born in Algiers in 1933, where he studied at the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts d'Alger (1953-56) and then continued his studies in Paris, at the École Camondo (1956 -59). Immediately after completing his academic career, Sauze began producing his drawings in a small studio and laboratory in Algiers, but in 1963 he returned to France, settling in Éguilles, near Aix-en-Provence.
In 1968 Sauze founded his eponymous company dedicated to the processing of aluminium, particularly focused on the creation of dynamic and sculptural lamps and lighting systems. His designs often include woven aluminum bands onto wire rope structures. It is argued that the choice of this production process stems from the artist's perspective on life, which comes from a deep understanding of its cyclical nature.
Sauze's most famous pieces are named after constellations and celestial bodies, such as the complex chandelier with geometric shapes Cassiopeia (circa 1969), originally created for the Aix-en-Provence Congress Centre. Other creations of great relevance and artistic importance include the Orion chandelier (circa 1967), first presented at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, the Uranus table lamp (circa 1970) and the Isocele nesting tables (circa 1970s).
Max Sauze's work, which ranges from sculpture to garden design, ceramics, architecture and lighting, including literary works, is emblematic of the distinctive craftsmanship renaissance of the 1960s and 1970s, which ushered in road to postmodernism. Although Sauze is officially retired, he continues to live in Éguilles, where his Garden is open to the public. His son, Sebastien Sauze, took over the family business and continues to produce his father's designs.
