Marta Pan


Marta Pan was a French abstract sculptor of Hungarian origin.

Early life

Marta Pan was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1923. She studied art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Budapest.

Work

Pan's sculptures are highly concerned with balance, symmetry, and geometry. She often created her works so that they were site-specific and worked with the surrounding environment. In 1946 Pan moved to Paris, where she met Constantin Brâncuşi and Fernand Léger. In 1952 she married André Wogenscky, who was a studio assistant to Le Corbusier. Her early sculptures were highly influenced by the architecture of Le Corbusier. In 1956, Pan created Le Teck, which consisted of two moveable parts. The choreographer Maurice Béjart later created a ballet, also entitled Le Teck, inspired directly by Pan's sculpture. Béjart's ballet was premiered on the roof of Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation building in Marseille, France. Until 1960, all of Pan's sculptures consisted of this two-part construction method, which allowed one piece to be moved, thus altering the work.
In 1990 she made Celle floating sculpture in Italy for the Gori collection - Fattoria di Celle.

Death

Pan died on 12 October 2008 in Paris, France.

Public collections

Pan's work can be seen in a number of public institutions and locations, including:
In 2001 Pan was awarded the prestigious Praemium Imperiale award for Sculpture from the Japan Art Society.

Selected works