Mathieu Ficheroux was a sculptor, painter, sketch artist and installation artist. He studied at the ‘Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten’ (Academy for the Arts) from 1945 until 1949 – now known as Willem de Kooning Academie – in Rotterdam, where he studied advertising and publicity. After graduating in 1949 he worked at the Academy as a teacher of fashion photography until 1953. In 1955 he began to paint as an independent artist and focused on sculpting from 1960 onwards. 

Ficheroux’ work is characterized by a meticulously chosen design and a perfect execution. Elements of destruction and alienation are purposefully added to these pieces. His work is a main theme in the art history of the twentieth century of his beloved city of Rotterdam. 

One of the ways in which this becomes clear is his design of a monument for Louis Davids: a 78 RPM LP Vinyl Record with a broken off half as dramatic element. In 1988 he designed the Anna Blaman prize for the Rotterdam based writer Jules Deelder. It consisted of a pure white dress shirt with an ink stain. In 1975 his most well known piece was shown to the public: a mural of Multatuli on the Mauritsweg above the bookstore Woutertje Pieterse, a character featured in Multatuli’s work. The mural showcases a well known Mutatuli quote: “Van de maan af gezien zijn we allen even groot” (“We are all the same size as seen from the moon”). In 1987 the piece was moved to the Van Oldenbarneveltstraat. In the early 90s Ficheroux made a number of large murals in the former director’s offices in Hotel New York. Amongst other works he designed the sculpture Vergeten Bombardement (Forgotten Bombing) in commemoration of the bombing of Rotterdam-West on 31 March 1943. 

In 1969 Ficheroux was awarded the Hendrik Chabot Prize. In 2008 the Chabot Museum exhibited his body of work in its entirety.