Antoine Poncet

Antoine Poncet (1928–2022) was born in Paris but raised in Switzerland. Coming from a family of painters, he chose sculpture early on, studying under Germaine Richier. From 1942–1945, he trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lausanne, then continued at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris with Marcel Gimond and Osip Zadkine. There, he connected with fellow sculptors Alicia Penalba, François Stahly, and Étienne Martin, and met modernist icons like Brancusi, Laurens, and especially Jean Arp—whose influence was decisive. Poncet worked as Arp’s assistant (1953–55) before launching his own international career.

Drawn to abstraction, Poncet sought purity of form, crafting seemingly simple, fluid shapes with folds, voids, and openings that evoke organic motion. “Everything is in motion in nature, in life,” he said. Yet, his works maintain a serene balance and weightlessness, appearing, in his words, “happy to be alive.”

Working mainly in bronze and marble, Poncet discovered the allure of polished bronze in the mid-1950s and began sculpting Carrara marble in the 1960s. From the early 1950s, he exhibited in major salons and international galleries—including Galerie Jean-Louis Roques (Paris), Brook Street Gallery (London), and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York).

In 1956, he represented Switzerland at the Venice Biennale and won the Prix André Susse (1957). Other honors include the Henry Moore Grand Prize (Hakone Open-Air Museum, Japan, 1983), Prix de l’Hermitage (1996), and membership in the Académie des Beaux-Arts (1993), which he presided over in 2009.

Poncet created monumental works for public spaces across France, Switzerland, the U.S., Japan, and China. His sculptures are held in major collections including MoMA, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Centre Pompidou, and the Jing’An Sculpture Park in Shanghai.

Submitted by P gallery | sculpture