Germaine Richier

Career Richier's early work was fantastic, combining classical forms with human-animal hybrids and depicting creatures such as the spider and the hydra. Her style became less figurative after World War II; the bodily deformations which she favoured as subjects were more accentuated in an attempt to convey a greater sense of anguish.

Controversy The greatest controversy surrounding Richier's work came about with her creation of a statue of Christ for the church of Notre-Dame de Toute Grâce du Plateau d'Assy. Meant to depict the physical and spiritual torment of Christ, she explained that: the cross has been taken with the suffering into the flesh, and its outlines can just be made out coming from the undersides of the arms. There is no face because God is the spirit and faceless.... The sculpture was ordered removed from sight by the bishop of Annecy. This event was the catalyst for a great argument about the nature and role of sacred art which took place throughout the 1950s, during which many artists found themselves opposed to the traditional role of religious and academic art. Some have also described the controversy as a debate over the nature of God in modern society.

Richier, for her part, gained some notoriety from the entire business, but seemed to retreat into obscurity again before her death in 1959.

Retrospectives Retrospectives of her work were held at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, and the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul, Alpes-Maritimes. Her works are in the Tuileries Garden, Musée Fabre, and the Tate Collection. Richier was celebrated on a postage stamp issued by La Poste in 1993 as part of a commemorative series depicting artists.

Personal life and death Richier died of cancer in 1959.