Parvine Curie

Parvine Curie was born in Nancy in 1936 and is of Franco-Iranian origin. After obtaining her baccalaureate she started studying linguistics and went to England, Austria, Spain and Italy to discover these countries. In 1957, she discovered Catalan art and decided to settle in Barcelona, where she created her first sculptures. She lived with the Catalan sculptor Marcel Marti with whom she had a son, David Marti in 1959. In 1960, she presented her first solo exhibition at the French Institute of Barcelona. By 1965, her work was stylized and constructed, notably through the use of iron, bronze, cut aluminum and embossed metal during the following year. The “Gales” fashion store in Barcelona commissioned her to decorate their windows for Christmas: fantastic birds, angels-sirens.

In May 1968, she created her first Mères (Mothers), which she presented at Suzanne de Cönninck’s at the Center for the Integration of the Arts. She left Spain in 1969 to settle in Paris. In 1970, Parvine Curie occupied a studio in the Cité internationale des arts in Paris. At the Salon de la Jeune Sculpture in the Luxembourg Gardens, she presented Première Mère, a blend of glued boards painted in black and enhanced with brass. This work was noticed by sculptor François Stahly, who saw in it a great resemblance with his work at the time. Stahly and his wife Claude invited her to work with them at the collective workshop in Crestet, in the Vaucluse and then in Meudon. There, Parvine Curie learned the basics of the trade, wood and stone carving. Stahly, for his part, recognizes Parvine’s structuring influence on his work.

In 1973, after Claude Stahly’s death, Parvine Curie moved in with François Stahly for six months in Albany, New York. The landscapes offered by the Rocky Mountains and the discovery of pre-Columbian civilizations strongly influenced her work. She traveled to Mexico, Guatemala, Morocco, India, Egypt, Yugoslavia, and Greece.

After her divorce from Marcel Marti, she married Stahly. When she returned to France, she received her first public commissions. The first one is located at the Pierre-Bégon college in Blois. The second work, Mère Anatolica, is placed in the courtyard of the Pierre-de-Coubertin middle school in Chevreuse, where Pierre Huyghe studied in 1975. This hieratic sculpture partly inspired the sculptor’s career.

In 1976, the Monnaie de Paris issued small reliefs, sculptures, and later her jewelry in limited editions. In 1979, she received the Bourdelle Prize from a jury consisting of sculptors Penalba, Waldberg, Hajdu, Etienne-Martin, and Couturier. In 1980, the city of Paris purchased a two-meter version of her Mother-Cathedral work in exotic wood for the inauguration of the Museum of Contemporary Outdoor Sculpture on quai Saint-Bernard.

In 1984, Parvine Curie presented a retrospective exhibition of her work at the Museum of Modern Art in Troyes. The same year, the city of Meudon commissioned her to create a monument to the victims of Nazi barbarism, which was made out of Carrara marble. In 1988, the Élysée purchased her sculpture “Mère-Couloirs” in aluminum as a presidential gift for German chancellor Helmut Kohl. Two years later, a non-commercial edition of twenty-five small pyramids was produced, which President Mitterand offered to heads of state during the Franco-African summit in La Baule.

Curie’s works were the subject of retrospectives at various venues, including the Jean Arp Foundation in Clamart, Hauts-de-Seine, and the Jacques-Prévert Center in Aulnay-sous-Bois, Seine-Saint-Denis, in 1994. In 1995, a retrospective of her works was held at the Orangerie of the castle of Meudon (Hauts-de-Seine), and in 1999, at the Gothic monastery of Pedralbes and the Maeght gallery in Barcelona.

In 2000, Curie exhibited her works alongside those of François Stahly at the French Institute of Barcelona in Spain. In 2003, she exhibited at the Art Center of Meudon and devoted her time to François Stahly, whose health deteriorated; he passed away in 2006. The following year, Curie’s son, David Marti, a painter and poet, also passed away. In 2009, Curie organized a retrospective of her son’s work, which was presented at the Cadaqués museum.

In 2012 a new retrospective was put together at the Collegiate Church of St Martin in Angers with musical interventions as well as poetic itineraries on texts and poems by David Marti. The following year in 2013, she was decorated Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (elevated to the rank of Officer in 2021) and participated in the exhibition “Les Femmes Sculpteurs (Women Sculptors)” at the Villa Datris (Isle-sur-Sorgue). In 2015, she participated in the exhibition “Dessine-moi une collection” at the Museum of Modern Art in Troyes and created the Parvine Curie – David Marti Donation fund.

In 2017 she published a monograph in regards to her retrospective “Parvine Curie, Sculptures & Tangkas” presented at the CAMPREDON ART Center in L’Isle‑sur‑ Sorgue (E. Maison de l’Europe). The following year she participated in the exhibition “Les Pionnières: In the Workshops of Women Artists of the 20th century” at Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier and published a monograph at Somogy Editions d’Art in collaboration with Galerie Martel Greiner. In 2021, she was also in the spotlight at the Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris) in regards to the exhibition “They make abstraction”.

Solo Exhibitions

2023–2024

Parvine Curie: A Sculpted World, Museum of Troyes, France

2022

Sculptures & Works on Paper, Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier, Paris, France

2019

Les Solitaires, Galerie Papiers d’Art, Paris, France

2018

The Pioneers – Women Artists of the 20th Century, Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier, Paris, France

Sculptures, La Friche de l’Escalette, Parc d’Architectures Légères, Marseille, France

Un miroir d’Obsidienne, Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier, Paris, France

2015

Talismans, BRAFA Art Fair (solo presentation), Brussels, Belgium

2013

Retrospective, Collégiale Saint-Martin, Angers, France

Sculptresses, Villa Datris, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France

Association Armitage, Paris, France

Black Sculptures / White Sculptures, Galerie Martel-Greiner, Paris, France

2012

Retrospective, Collégiale Saint-Martin, Angers, France

2009

Galerie Martel-Greiner (with François Stahly), Paris, France

Maison Elsa Triolet–Aragon, Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines, France

2007

Galerie Martel-Greiner, Paris, France

Galerie Yves Gastou, Paris, France

2005

Château de Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, Lot, France

Galerie-atelier Lambert-Rouland (with Raoul Ubac), Paris, France

2003

Centre d’Art et de Culture, Meudon, France

2000

Prieuré Saint-Michel, Crouttes-Vimoutiers, France

Galerie Patrick Domken, Cadaqués, Spain

Institut Français, Barcelona (with François Stahly), Spain

1999

Retrospective, Monastery of Pedralbes & Galerie Maeght, Barcelona, Spain

1998

Galerie Schèmes, Lille, France

1997

Château Park, Fougères, France

Galerie Les Urbanistes (with François Stahly), Fougères, France

City Hall (with David Marti), Clamart, France

Christine & Bruno de Panafieu Collection (with François Stahly), Malakoff, France

1996

Galerie Sophie von Schendel (with François Stahly), Cadaqués, Spain

1995

Retrospective, Château Orangerie, Meudon, France

Musée d’Art et d’Histoire (with James Guitet), Chaumont, France

City Hall (with François Stahly), Konstanz, Germany

Katholische Akademie (with François Stahly), Schwerte, Germany

1994

Retrospective, Fondation Jean Arp, Clamart, France

Centre Jacques-Prévert, Aulnay-sous-Bois, France

Abbaye de Bouchemaine (with James Guitet), Angers, France

Galerie de la Cathédrale, Fribourg, Switzerland

1990

Galerie-atelier Lambert-Rouland, Paris, France

SAGA Art Fair, Grand Palais, Paris, France

1989

Musée Tavet-Delacour (with François Stahly), Pontoise, France

Galerie Philip, Paris, France

1988

Sous-préfecture (with David Marti & François Stahly), Béthune, France

Galerie Philip, Paris, France

1987

Galerie Philip, Paris, France

Fondation Mona von Bismarck (with François Stahly), Paris, France

Galerie Cadaqués (with François Stahly), Spain

1986

Château de Castanet, Villefort, France

Galerie Cadaqués (with François Stahly), Spain

Musée Massey (with François Stahly), Tarbes, France

1985

Galerie La Cité (with Étienne Hajdu & François Stahly), Switzerland

Galerie Le Temps de Voir (with Ancel), Maillot, France

1984

Museum of Modern Art, Troyes, France

1983

Galerie Le Temps de Voir, Maillot, France

Galerie im Rathausdurchgang, Winterthur, Switzerland

1982

Galerie im Rathausdurchgang (with François Stahly), Winterthur, Switzerland

Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund, Germany

Galerie Cadaqués (with François Stahly), Spain

1981

Katholische Akademie, Schwerte, Germany

Galerie Hella Nebelung, Düsseldorf, Germany

Musée d’Art et d’Histoire (with François Stahly), Meudon, France

1980

Musée Bourdelle, Paris, France

Galerie Françoise Tournié (with François Stahly), Paris, France

1979

Galerie Michel (with François Stahly), Biel, Switzerland

1978

Galerie Françoise Tournié, Paris, France

1977

Museum of Frauenfeld (with François Stahly), Switzerland

1973

Galerie Françoise Tournié, Paris, France

1972

Collective Studio of Stahly, Meudon, France

1967

Galerie Arte Centro, Milan, Italy

1966

Galerie Sur, Santander, Spain

Galerie Gres, Barcelona, Spain

1964

Ateneo, Madrid, Spain

Galerie Belarte, Barcelona, Spain

1963

Galerie du Siècle, Paris, France

Galerie Belarte, Barcelona, Spain

1962

Galerie Paco Rebès, Barcelona, Spain

1960

Institut Français, Barcelona, Spain

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Group exhibitions

2026

Journal Intime, Galerie Loft, Paris, France

2025

Monumental – Inauguration of the Sculpture Garden, France

Summer Selection, À Première Vue / Galerie Loft, Paris, France

Parvine Curie – François Stahly, Crossed Perspectives, Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier, Paris, France

Berserk & Pyrrhia: Contemporary and Medieval Art, FRAC Île-de-France, France

2024

Group Show, Galerie Loft, Paris, France

2022

Elles, Galerie Loft, Paris, France

2021

Women in Abstraction, Centre Pompidou

Art For All, Galerie Loft, Paris, France

2019

The Parvine Curie Path, Museum of Art and History, Meudon, France

2013

13 Women Sculptors, Salinger Museum, Le Thor, France

Pierre Huyghe Retrospective, MNAM – Centre Pompidou, Paris

2009

Around Pierre Cabanne, Galerie Guillaume, Paris

Art and Chapels, Gennes, France

2008

Rooms, Conversations, FRAC Île-de-France – Le Plateau, Paris

2006

Convergences–Divergences, Domaine Madame Élisabeth, Versailles

2005

Hôtel Drouot-Richelieu, Paris

Im Mondquadrat, Stiftung Museum Liner, Appenzell, Switzerland

Galerie Cadaqués, Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid) and MACBA (Barcelona)

2003

7 Places, 7 Materials, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence

1999

City Park, Draguignan, France

1998

Fruits of Passion, Maison Mansart, Paris

1997

Convergences–Divergences, Versailles

Homage to Geneviève Thévenot, Museum of Modern Art, Troyes

One Work, One Jewel, Nantes

1996

Contemporary Prints, Château de Sainte-Suzanne

1995

El Ampurdán, Land of Artists, Madrid

25 Years of Contemporary Art, Beaulieu-en-Rouergue Abbey
Chevalier Collection, Meudon

The Book and the Artist, Clamart

1993

A Collector’s Cabinet, Galerie Lambert-Rouland, Paris
Sculpted Faces, Paris

1992

Twenty Years of Plastic Arts, Paris

States of Black, Galerie Lambert-Rouland, Paris

Encounter with Sculpture, Granville

Collages, Estoril, Portugal

1991

Coincidenze, Bellinzona, Switzerland

New Embroideries, Mobilier National, Paris

Summer Arts – Sculpture, Thonon-les-Bains

1990

Galerie Lambert-Rouland, Paris

Art for Life, Institut Curie and ENSBA, Paris

1989

Relief from the 1950s to Today, Beaulieu-en-Rouergue

Half-Tones, Galerie Philip, Paris

1988

Group exhibition with François Stahly and David Marti,

Béthune and Cadaqués

1987

Sculpture, Maubeuge

Textile Sculptures, Beaulieu-en-Rouergue

1986

Art and Public, Gare de l’Est, Paris

Art and the Sacred Today, Abbaye de l’Épau

20th Century Sculpture, Fondation Coubertin

1985

20th Century Sculpture, Pontoise

FRAC Île-de-France, Musée du Luxembourg, Paris

Galerie La Cité, Luxembourg

Contemporary Sculpture, Paris

100 Public Commissions, CNAP, Paris

1984

Labyrinth, Fondation Gulbenkian, Lisbon

Women in Contemporary Art, Vitry-sur-Seine

1983

Multiple institutional exhibitions in Meudon, Toulouse, Lyon, Nice and Paris

1982

Tapestries by Sculptors, Château de Castanet

1981

20 Years of the Bourdelle Prize, Musée Bourdelle, Paris

1980

Contemporary Sculpture Exhibition, Meudon

Bijoux, Cailloux Fous, Amiens

Open-air Sculpture Museum inauguration, Paris

1979

Fondation des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques, Paris

Escultura e Vida, Lisbon

Festival of Sculpture, Paris

Museum of Tapestries, Aix-en-Provence

Musée Bourdelle, Paris

1978

Tours Multiples 78, Tours

Charity exhibition, Centre Pompidou, Paris

1977

Galerie Françoise Tournié, Paris

Musée Cantini, Marseille

UNESCO, Paris

1976

Seventeen Sculptures for a Park, Meudon

1975

International Contemporary Art Festival, Le Mans

1974–1972

International sculpture exhibitions in Spain, Italy and Switzerland

1967–1962

Early group exhibitions in Paris, Madrid and Basel

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Biennials / Salons / Art Fairs

2024

Monaco Sculptures (5th edition), Monaco

2023

BAD+ Art Fair, Bordeaux, France

2012

Design Élysées, Paris, France

2011

Paris Fine Art, Paris, France

2010

BRAFA – Brussels Antiques and Fine Art Fair, Brussels, Belgium

Salon de Mai, Galerie Martel-Greiner, Paris, France

2009

2nd Sculpture Biennial, Galerie Martel-Greiner, Lille, France

1st European Contemporary Art Fair, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris, France

PAD – Pavillon des Arts et du Design, London, United Kingdom

Salon du Collectionneur, Paris, France

2008

Brussels Antiques Fair, Tour & Taxis, Brussels, Belgium

2007

1st Sculpture Biennial, Belgium

Art Élysées, Paris, France

2006

Biennale des Antiquaires, Brussels, Belgium

PAD – Pavillon des Arts et du Design, Paris, France

BRAFA, Brussels, Belgium

2005

Miniprint International (25th edition), Paris, France

2002

Salon Tryptique, Angers, France

1997

Salon Coup de Cœur, Espace Cardin / Grand Palais, Paris, France

1993

Grands et Jeunes d’Aujourd’hui, Paris, France

1991

Salon Découvertes, Grand Palais, Paris, France

1990

Salon SAGA, Grand Palais, Paris, France

1987

Biennale of Nancy – Summer of Sculpture, Nancy, France

1982

Salon de Montrouge, Grand Palais, Paris, France

1981

2nd European Triennial of Sculpture, Jardin du Palais-Royal, Paris, France

1978

1st European Triennial of Sculpture, Padua, Italy

1977

11th International Biennial of Small Bronze, Padua, Italy

1975–1978

International Biennial of Small Sculpture, Paris, France

1971

Salon de Mai, Paris, France

Salon de la Jeune Sculpture, Paris, France

1970

Salon de la Jeune Sculpture, Paris, France

1960

Salon de Mai, Barcelona, Spain

1959

Salon de Novembre, Barcelona, Spain

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Public Collections

Donation to the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire de Meudon and Abbaye de Beaulieu, Contemporary Art Center

Centre Pompidou (works: Mère-Matmata, H.100m, 1975–1977; Paysage, 1981)

Geneviève Bonnefoi Collection, Beaulieu-en-Rouergue, Tarn-et-Garonne, France

National Center for Sacred Art, Paris

CNAP, Musée du Florival, Guebwiller, France

Departmental Council of Yvelines, Versailles, France

FNAC, Paris

Fondation Marguerite Arp, Locarno, Switzerland

FRAC Île-de-France

FRAM Île-de-France

City Hall of Constance, Germany

Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Meudon, France

Musée d’Art Moderne, Troyes, France

City Museum, Mont-de-Marsan, France

Musée Massey, Tarbes, France

Musée Tavet-Delacour, Pontoise, France

Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund, Germany

Palais de l’Élysée

Le Crestet National Park, Vaucluse, France

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Public Commissions in France

Blois (Loir-et-Cher), Michel-Bégon secondary school, sculpture in burned mahogany wood

Carignan (Ardennes), secondary school, sculpture in coated cellular concrete

Chevreuse (Yvelines), Pierre-de-Coubertin secondary school, sculpture in black stone aggregate

Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), secondary school, sculpture in coated cellular concrete

Meudon (Hauts-de-Seine), memorial to victims of Nazi barbarism, Carrara marble

Miramas (Bouches-du-Rhône), technical high school, sculpture in Bonnieux stone

Murbach (Haut-Rhin), abbey gate, bronze

Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle), courthouse, relief in light iroko wood

Open-air Museum of Contemporary Sculpture, Paris, sculpture in exotic wood (teak)

Plouzané (Finistère), secondary school, sculpture in Burgundy stone

Troyes (Aube), entrance gate of the Museum of Modern Art, iroko wood