The Prolific Years
1960-1969
In 1960, his name appeared for the first time in art reference publications, such as the Dictionaire de la Sculpture Moderne (France) and the Lexicon der Modernem Plastik (Germany). His sculptures were sold worldwide, from Europe to the U.S., and from Canada to Venezuela and Ecuador. He signed a contract with Galerie Karl Flinker which extended until 1967 when he moved from Paris to Brussels, Belgium.
Dorothea Speyer, the U.S. Cultural Attaché in Paris, exhibited his work in the USIS galleries several times during the decade, as a talented representative of American artists abroad.
1960-1969
In 1960, his name appeared for the first time in art reference publications, such as the Dictionaire de la Sculpture Moderne (France) and the Lexicon der Modernem Plastik (Germany). His sculptures were sold worldwide, from Europe to the U.S., and from Canada to Venezuela and Ecuador. He signed a contract with Galerie Karl Flinker which extended until 1967 when he moved from Paris to Brussels, Belgium.
Dorothea Speyer, the U.S. Cultural Attaché in Paris, exhibited his work in the USIS galleries several times during the decade, as a talented representative of American artists abroad.
At the beginning of this decade, variations on the Forest series grew even larger with pieces such as the Grille Animée (1962) and La Descente (The Downward Fall - 1964). He began to pivot the Plaitons by positioning the plates horizontally and the rods vertically, which generated a Forest profile, but a Plaiton look from above. Laiton Fontaine (1962) is an early example of this new variation and the first of a series of fountains that eventually stand in front of public buildings.
Toward the middle of this decade, he returned to semi-figurative solid elements, as in 1966 with Figure Debout (Standing Figure), Dancing Man and Grand Pas (Big Step). The masses in these works are still linked by rods, but the Forest look gives way to a more web-like effect without relinquishing the lightness that characterized in early Forests. His play with the empty space in and around sculptures was evident in the impossible balance achieved in the Grand Pas, as was his defiance of gravity in Plaiton Signal and Les Petites Noires (Little Black Girls - 1965).
Toward the middle of this decade, he returned to semi-figurative solid elements, as in 1966 with Figure Debout (Standing Figure), Dancing Man and Grand Pas (Big Step). The masses in these works are still linked by rods, but the Forest look gives way to a more web-like effect without relinquishing the lightness that characterized in early Forests. His play with the empty space in and around sculptures was evident in the impossible balance achieved in the Grand Pas, as was his defiance of gravity in Plaiton Signal and Les Petites Noires (Little Black Girls - 1965).
In 1968, with Plaiton avec Racines (Plaiton with Roots) and Plaiton, Cuivre et Points (Plaiton, Copper, and Dots), his probing of the linear forest versus the use of rods as a web turned into a study in contrasts. Another side of his exploration can be seen in the way he hammered and created knobs on the plates of the Plaiton part of these works as he probed the textures that can be rendered on a sheet of metal. All these elements are also apparent in a juxtaposition of the pictures of Hal Plaiton and the Great Brussels Plaiton (1968) in the catalog commemorating his 1976 retrospective exhibition at the Maison de la Culture in the Commune of Woluwe-St-Pierre.
In spite of his omni-present sense of humor, a thread of his political commentary remained equally persistent in his work throughout his first decade abroad. Though the struggle for Civil Rights in the U.S. took place one continent away, he remained deeply connected to the outcome of the segregated world he chose to leave behind. His acute inner political stance was reflected in works such as Political Prisoner (1954), Slave (1963), and Figure Debout (Standing Figure - 1963), with its haunting hooded silhouette reminiscent of the Klu-Klux-Klan.
In 1967, France withdrew from NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) where Peggy had made her career as a civil servant to provide the Cousins family with the security of a salaried income. NATO headquarters were subsequently moved to Brussels, Belgium, and the family followed. Before leaving Paris, major sculptures were sold to important public venues, including the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, and the Museums Haus Lange, Lehmbruck, and International in Germany.
The departure from Paris was a difficult choice for Harold who had spent the past 20 years carefully building his artistic circle. A certain bitterness set in, bringing a different type of social commentary, a sarcasm into the folds of the inspiration behind the works of the new decade, culminating in the magnificent, but poignant, Human Comedy series of the mid-70s.
In 1967, France withdrew from NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) where Peggy had made her career as a civil servant to provide the Cousins family with the security of a salaried income. NATO headquarters were subsequently moved to Brussels, Belgium, and the family followed. Before leaving Paris, major sculptures were sold to important public venues, including the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, and the Museums Haus Lange, Lehmbruck, and International in Germany.
The departure from Paris was a difficult choice for Harold who had spent the past 20 years carefully building his artistic circle. A certain bitterness set in, bringing a different type of social commentary, a sarcasm into the folds of the inspiration behind the works of the new decade, culminating in the magnificent, but poignant, Human Comedy series of the mid-70s.
