HENRY SAMOUILOV (1930-2014) The goat Bronze with patina, bearing Samouilov on top of the terrace. Foundry stamp: cire perdue Valsuani, n° 2/8. Height: 27.5 cm. Born in Paris in 1930, Henri Samouilov is one of those artists who cannot be classified. A self-taught painter and sculptor, his originality stems from his free spirit. Very early on, painting fever struck him and he decided to enroll in evening classes in Montparnasse, frequenting the Grande Chaumière, before studying wood engraving at the Ecole Estienne. A multi-faceted artist, he took on the role of architect to design and build his artist's studio in Yerres, his main place of residence. This home-workshop, which still bears his signature, is a fantastic testimony to Henri Samouilov's creativity, with sculptures responding to drawings and paintings orchestrating an organized Baroque style. The artist's sculptural work is just as unclassifiable, featuring everything from animals to characters, literary and fantastical inspirations. What all these statues have in common is their gentleness. One senses the artist's delight in representing what exists through a stylistic prism all her own, a lightness accentuated by the contrast of the porous roughness of the plaster surface used for her master models.