Martha Rodriguez (1956) - Visage de femme
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Original contemporary glass sculpture Visage de femme by Martha Rodriguez (1956), signed in the glass and mounted on a granite base, 27 × 16 × 10 cm, weight about 4.3 kg, France origin, in excellent condition.
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Description from the seller
Description of the work:
Original sculpture by Martha Rodriguez (born 1956), Franco-Venezuelan artist who has been living in France since 1980 and working in Nogent-sur-Marne.
Likely created in the second half of the 1990s, this glass sculpture set on a granite base represents a female profile in relief, its features appearing through the thickness, cuts, and transparencies of the glass.
The composition rests on the contrast between two materials: on the one hand, the mineral, opaque and deliberately raw mass of granite; on the other, the transparency of glass, worked in thickness and following irregular contours.
From a given viewing angle and depending on the lighting, the feminine profile appears with more or less clarity. The edges of the glass catch and refract light, giving the sculpture a changing appearance.
This use of glass is particularly representative of the research conducted by Martha Rodriguez during this period. The artist explains that she began working with glass from 1995, in a plastic exploration of transparency, light, and space. A documentation from the Vasarely Foundation also mentions her use of wood, stone, iron, as well as hammered and crushed glass, in a research on “transparency and shadows.”
The work is signed directly in the glass, on the edge of the sculpture, at the level of the figure’s chin.
The irregularities visible on the glass contours contribute to the plastic treatment of the sculpture and its interaction with light.
Dimensions with base: 27 × 16 × 10 cm
Weight: approximately 4.3 kg.
Provenance:
Former Denise Guillet collection (1938-2025), Nogent-sur-Marne.
The work was kept in Denise Guillet’s private collection until her death in 2025, before joining the current private collection.
About Martha Rodriguez:
Martha Rodriguez is a Franco-Venezuelan artist born in Caracas in 1956. After studying graphic arts at the Newman Institute of Caracas and training continued in Paris, she gradually moves from graphic design to plastic expression. Based in France since 1980, she works in Nogent-sur-Marne.
Painter, sculptor, engraver, and multimedia artist, she develops a research around transparency, emptiness, volume, light, and occupancy of space. Glass plays an important role in this research, alongside wood, stone, metal, paper, and other materials.
A publication devoted to the artist notes that she began working with glass around 1995. She explains that she seeks transparency and the effects produced by light and air. Around 2010, her work evolves toward other materials and larger-scale sculptures intended notably for public spaces.
Her work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions in France and abroad. The Museum of Geometric and MADI Art notes more than 50 group exhibitions since 1991, in France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Hungary, Spain, Egypt, Venezuela, and the United States.
In 2011, Martha Rodriguez received the first prize at the Guadalajara Sculpture Biennale, in Mexico, for her work Rebozos.
Description of the work:
Original sculpture by Martha Rodriguez (born 1956), Franco-Venezuelan artist who has been living in France since 1980 and working in Nogent-sur-Marne.
Likely created in the second half of the 1990s, this glass sculpture set on a granite base represents a female profile in relief, its features appearing through the thickness, cuts, and transparencies of the glass.
The composition rests on the contrast between two materials: on the one hand, the mineral, opaque and deliberately raw mass of granite; on the other, the transparency of glass, worked in thickness and following irregular contours.
From a given viewing angle and depending on the lighting, the feminine profile appears with more or less clarity. The edges of the glass catch and refract light, giving the sculpture a changing appearance.
This use of glass is particularly representative of the research conducted by Martha Rodriguez during this period. The artist explains that she began working with glass from 1995, in a plastic exploration of transparency, light, and space. A documentation from the Vasarely Foundation also mentions her use of wood, stone, iron, as well as hammered and crushed glass, in a research on “transparency and shadows.”
The work is signed directly in the glass, on the edge of the sculpture, at the level of the figure’s chin.
The irregularities visible on the glass contours contribute to the plastic treatment of the sculpture and its interaction with light.
Dimensions with base: 27 × 16 × 10 cm
Weight: approximately 4.3 kg.
Provenance:
Former Denise Guillet collection (1938-2025), Nogent-sur-Marne.
The work was kept in Denise Guillet’s private collection until her death in 2025, before joining the current private collection.
About Martha Rodriguez:
Martha Rodriguez is a Franco-Venezuelan artist born in Caracas in 1956. After studying graphic arts at the Newman Institute of Caracas and training continued in Paris, she gradually moves from graphic design to plastic expression. Based in France since 1980, she works in Nogent-sur-Marne.
Painter, sculptor, engraver, and multimedia artist, she develops a research around transparency, emptiness, volume, light, and occupancy of space. Glass plays an important role in this research, alongside wood, stone, metal, paper, and other materials.
A publication devoted to the artist notes that she began working with glass around 1995. She explains that she seeks transparency and the effects produced by light and air. Around 2010, her work evolves toward other materials and larger-scale sculptures intended notably for public spaces.
Her work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions in France and abroad. The Museum of Geometric and MADI Art notes more than 50 group exhibitions since 1991, in France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Hungary, Spain, Egypt, Venezuela, and the United States.
In 2011, Martha Rodriguez received the first prize at the Guadalajara Sculpture Biennale, in Mexico, for her work Rebozos.
Details
Era
1900-2000
Country of origin
France
Style
Contemporary
Material
Glass
Artist
Martha Rodriguez (1956)
Title of artwork
Visage de femme
Signature
Hand signed
Edition
Original
Condition
Excellent condition
Height
27 cm
Width
16 cm
Depth
10 cm
Weight
4.3 kg
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