(Brussels 1934–2005 Monaco)
Le Manteau du temps, 2000, fossilized stone of Moroccan desert, of an edition of 3 + 2 EA, 173 x 52 x 43 cm

A certificate of the Folon Foundation will be given to the buyer

Provenance:
European Private Collection

Exhibited:
Florence, Forte Belvedere and Palazzo Vecchio, Folon,
12 May – 20 October 2005, exh. cat. notice 196, p. 254
(Marilena Pasquali ed.)
Florence, Forte Belvedere and Palazzo Vecchio, Folon, La mia Firenze,
12 May – 20 October 2005, exh. cat. p. 77 (Marilena Pasquali ed.)

Literature:
Guy Gilsoul, Folon. Sculptures. Ghent, Snoeck., 2008, p. 256

Le Manteau du Temps (The Coat of Time) brings Folon‘s famous character to life in stone. This character is present throughout Folon’s work, from his first drawings in the 1960s to his sculptures and the images created for the famous Antenne 2 theme tune.

He is a sort of anonymous Everyman with whom everyone can identify. Belgian-born artist Jean-Michel Folon (1934-2005) turned to monumental statuary in the 1990s, first in bronze and then, from 1996, in stone.

He chose spectacular stones that were not usually used in sculpture, such as this stone encrusted with fossils from the Moroccan desert. Folon seeks to create a dialogue between the sculpted form and the graphic pattern of the stone with this highly personal approach to raw material.

This stone is characterized by numerous fossils that are invisible when the block of stone is selected at the quarry, and only revealed as the stone is cut. It is only at the end of the process, when the work is completely free of its stone gangue, that the sculpture‘s surface is revealed, the surprise being left until the end of the work. This approach recalls Folon‘s watercolour technique, in which the pigments are allowed to mingle freely, carried by the water, without the artist having any real control over the final result.