Léon Indenbaum

Léon Indenbaum was a Russian sculptor and artist of Jewish origin (naturalized French), born on 10 December 1890 at Chavusy (Belarus), died 29 September 1981 in Opio (France).

He worked among talented young painters and sculptors, many of whom became famous and subsequently formed the School of Paris: Soutine, Kremegne, Chagall, Kikoïne, Epstein, Zadkineand later Modigliani who devoted a famous painting "Portrait de Leon Indenbaum" (Collection: The Henry and Rose Pearlman Foundation).

From 1911 to 1919, Leon Indenbaum will complete his artistic training in the workshop of the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle at Montparnasse, he had a predilection for the work of his pupil he called "mon jeune poulain" (my protegee) By 1912, he outlines three stone sculptures at the Salon des Indépendants.

His work continues in the shadows, Leon being completely indifferent to fame and believing that an artist has no right to be distracted by the "cotes mondains" (by-wordly) But patrons, including brothers George and Marcel Bernard, businessmen and collectors came through the door of his studio and convinced him to work on their behalf in any material freedom.

Then the years pass, Indenbaum worked discreetly and it is difficult to follow his artistic ascent because of its unsociable nature and his horror of publicity.