Art and Manner
MARINE DE SOOS AND SYLVIE DERELY

At the heart of the Château de la Messardière, Alexandre Durand-Viel invites you to discover the artistic sensitivity of Marine de Soos and Sylvie Derely, two highly talented contemporary sculptors represented by Galerie Estades.

The sensory sculptures of Marine de Soos welcome you on the forecourt of the Château. Grande Femme à l’enfant reflects all the tenderness of maternal feeling and the beautiful communion between mother and baby. A few steps away, L’Ancien evokes the wisdom and benevolence of a man in the autumn of his life; Le Pousseur de Lune represents childhood, the carefreeness of young years… Born in Paris, Marine de Soos spent part of her childhood in Africa, her great source of inspiration. Trained in the Paris studio of the American sculptor Jonathan Hirschfeld in the technique of “lost-wax bronze” using metal or wooden armatures, she invites us on a timeless journey lulled by emotion. Before exhibiting at the Château de la Messardière, Marine de Soos, laureate of the prestigious Fondation Taylor, left her artistic imprint on numerous exceptional venues, including L’Oréal’s headquarters in Clichy, Primo Piano at Le Bon Marché in Paris, La Demeure des Comtes de Champagne Taittinger in Reims, the French Embassy in New Delhi, Château de Bois-Guilbert… By enhancing the wisdom of Africa and the Orient, Marine invites us on a timeless journey to the heart of knowledge.

“I like to capture moments of emotion and instants of grace” — Marine de Soos

On the pool terrace, a few steps from the Le Soleil d’Eau bar and the gourmet restaurant L’Acacia, the slender sculptures of Sylvie Derely work wonders. Amour symbolizes the embrace of a couple in perfect symbiosis, “with long arms to celebrate love and infinite legs to travel the world.” Nearby, a small Adélaïde plays with a hoop; she seems very happy in the sunlit setting of the Château de la Messardière…

Sylvie Derely began her artistic life with painting, in northern France. In the early 1980s, she divided her time between watercolor and commissioned drawings for textiles; major Parisian houses such as Guerlain, Rochas, and Renault called on her for mural commissions. Since the 1990s, Sylvie has devoted herself entirely to sculpture. Her elongated works, with barely sketched faces, inevitably recall Giacometti, while being smoother and even more ruptured. Elegant and graceful, her sculptures—on the theme of family and feelings—gently transport us into a tender, dreamlike universe.

“The art of paring down invites me to move toward what is essential, that is to say, toward feelings…” — Sylvie Derely