Rating and value of works, sculptures, compressions by César

A welded-iron sculptor, César (1921-1998) discovered a hydraulic press in a scrapyard in Gennevilliers in the 1960s. Fascinated by its power to deform and transform objects, the artist took the plunge and created three extraordinary compressions of cars.

Presented the same year at the Salon de Mai, these works entitled "Trois Tonnes" caused a scandal. Yet César's Compressions become major works in Art History.

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Rating and value of Compressions César

Major works of the 20th century, Compressions by César sell for between €200 and €291,523 (record for the artist achieved in 2018).

Highly prized by collectors, the price of Compressions varies according to their size and material.

Despite the great popularity and diversity of these works, Compressions made from carcasses are the most highly priced.

Order of value from the most basic to the most prestigious

César's life and experimentation with Compressions

César Baldaccini, known as César, was born in Marseille in 1921. From an early age, César was recognized as a prodigy. Endowed with an innate talent for drawing, he first studied drawing and then sculpture at the Beaux-Arts de Marseille.

The artist continued his studies in Paris. César was very interested in modern sculpture and the works of Brancusi, Picasso, Matisse and Giacometti.

He produced his first works in iron, an easy-to-handle and inexpensive material. At the time, each of César's works was unique, and he worked and welded them himself in the original material.

César's first Compressions had their origins as early as 1958, when he compacted copper plates and ribbons.

Not long afterwards, the artist discovered a huge press used to manipulate materials, capable of reducing a car, at a scrap dealer's in Gennevilliers. This gave him the idea of creating three compressed car bales, which he hyperbolically named "3 tonnes".

César experienced two periods of creation of his Compressions. The first spans from 1959 to 1970, while the second runs from 1976 to 1998. His Compressions are often imbued with humor, such as the Compressions d'orfèvrerie or de cristal.

In 1961, César experimented withDirected Compressions. The elements to be compressed are carefully selected according to shape and color, then weighed.

Some sets of Compressionsare composed solely of car fenders, while others include a black car, two red hoods and twelve bumpers, for example. The shapes are rectangular, flat or square.

Later, the artist expands his creations by adding other elements such as license plates, metal packaging and aluminum tubes. He also compresses two-wheelers.

César's early Compressions lead him into the Nouveau Réalisme movement. This group, considered eccentric, explores new perspectives in art.

Focus on Compression de voitures, 1959

Compression de voitures is a work created by César and housed at the Centre Pompidou. The artist literally compressed car bodies using hydraulic presses. The materials used in this work are compressed car sheet metal, sometimes painted or polychromed.

This is the first large-scale compression to be exhibited, marking a turning point in César's career and in the history of contemporary sculpture.

This work was born out of the discovery of an industrial hydraulic press, César taking hold of a tool used for scrap metal. He doesn't sculpt in the traditional sense of the word, but rather orients, selects and composes from pre-existing materials.

The artistic gesture lies in the choice of vehicle, partial control of the press and the way the final block is presented. Compression becomes a form of transformed readymade, between destruction, recycling and creation.

The volume is dense, compact, with irregular and chaotic contours, with an accumulation of deformed, shattered and twisted sheet metal. The metal surface is sometimes shiny, sometimes oxidized, revealing traces of paint, chrome or shattered headlights.

Industrial material is diverted towards a raw, violent aesthetic, yet paradoxically harmonious. There is no base or pedestal, the object asserts itself as an autonomous sculptural monument, carrying a raw force.

The conceptual scope overturns the status of sculpture, and of form created by compression rather than addition. It denounces consumer society and mass production, while feeding off them plastically. The work thus becomes a metaphor for accident, wear and tear, and the end of the object.

It is also an act of transmutation: scrap metal becomes art, through an operation that is both mechanical and conceptual. César links poor materials and industrial culture to a new poetics of the contemporary.

This work was initially perceived as scandalous or provocative, but was later recognized as founding the Nouveau Réalisme. It anticipates reflections on recycling, the critique of modernity and the erasure of the artist's hand.

This work also exerts an influence on Arte Povera, and certain performative gestures of the 1970s. César reiterated this principle on numerous occasions, using precious metals, plastic materials and varying scales.

His signature

Not all of Caesar's works are signed.

Although there are variations, here's a first example of his signature:

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