Biography

François Melin (1941-2019) is a metal sculptor artist

François Melin’s paternal family comes from Nancy and his maternal family from Normandy. His father was mobilized in communications during the First World War before settling with his brother in Villoison in 1933 where he built an industrial chicken coop. He married in 1936 and had five children, two sons, including François born December 9, 1941 in Villoison, and three daughters. All receive a very strict Christian education. The henhouse then houses 2,000 hens and requires the organization of poultry feeding, egg collection and sorting, cleaning of the henhouse as well as commercial canvassing. After the death of his father in 1961, his mother took over the operation and François supported her until it ceased in 1970.

He then began working as a metal sculptor and made jewelry and furniture. The artist transformed his parents’ farm into a workshop, sculpting all kinds of animals. He travels a lot, particularly in Asia and participates in an exhibition in China in 2001. He has exhibited in Paris, London, Japan, China…

François Melin is best known for his shark sculpture, which adorns the roundabout at the entrance to Villabé, in Essonne, before the A6 motorway: a monumental work 10 meters long made of brass plates and weighing a ton, made from a real shark he had purchased. In 2015, the town of Villabé paid tribute to him by organizing an exhibition of his works.

Ill for several years, François Melin died on August 5, 2019 at the age of 77.