Valentine Schlegel
Valentine Schlegel (23 November 1925 – 16 May 2021) was a French sculptor and ceramicist. Her most prominent works are the series of vases she created during the 1950s and her bespoke white plaster fireplaces. Her style could be considered as Modernist organic abstraction. Early life and education Valentine Schlegel was born and raised in Sète, Occitania, southern France. Her paternal family were artisans, her grandfather was a carpenter, and her father owned a furniture upcycling workshop. Her elder sisters were the artist Andrée Vilar (1916–2009) and the photographer Suzanne Schlegel-Fournier (1919–2007). Valentine's interest in art stemmed from her childhood. In 1937 she joined the French Federation of Girl Scouts. Her group was called Wakandas and it was there where she learnt about fire techniques and tool making, becoming their leader in 1942. In 1942, she joined the Fine Arts School of Montpellier, where she mainly studied drawing and painting. Artistic career Costume designer, stage manager and props specialist In 1947, she started working for the Festival d'Avignon alongside her brother-in-law Jean Vilar. For four years, she fulfilled the roles of costume designer, set painter, props specialist and the assistant of painter and decorator Léon Gischia, to ultimately become the