Félix-Alexandre Desruelles

Félix-Alexandre Desruelles (born June 7, 1865 in Valenciennes , † 1943 in La Flèche ) was a French sculptor . He was a member of the Institut de France and the Académie des Beaux-Arts .

War and peace monuments

• 1923: The Monument aux morts du Quesnoy ( Nord-Pas-de-Calais ) commemorates the participation of the New Zealand Army in the liberation of Le Quesnoy in November 1918 after four years of occupation. In the arrangement by Desruelles, a victory angel watches as the New Zealanders climb the fortified walls with a ladder and thus initiate the liberation of Le Quesnoy.

• 1924: The Monument aux morts de Commentry ( Allier ) shows a farmer leaning pensively on his scythe. While working in the wheat field, he passed a soldier's grave. The inscription on the memorial in Rue Christophe Thivrier reads: “  La ville de Commentry à ses enfants victimes de la guerre  ”.

• 1925: The Monument aux morts d ' Hazebrouck (Nord-Pas-de-Calais) at the parish church of St-Éloi in Hazebrouck is a stele crowned by Desruelle's stone statue La France victorieuse et pacifique (The victorious and pacifist France) . The allegorical representation of France in the form of a woman celebrates victory but offers peace. She holds an olive branch in one hand while the other rests on an impressively broad sword. The Monument aux morts in Hazebrouck was unveiled on November 11, 1925 by Bishop Lemire and Marshal Foch .

• 1927: The Monument aux morts d ' Auchel (Nord-Pas-de-Calais) was unveiled on May 13, 1928. Auchel is a former mining town southwest of Béthune . The monument is located on rue Jean Jaurès . Desruelles wrote about his work that it was intended to be “  Flétrir la guerre, chanter la paix  ” (German: “to brand the war, to praise the peace”). The monument connects two groups. The first shows "  L'humanité en deuil  " (German: "Humanity in mourning"). Humanity turns a blind eye to the horrors of war; dead soldiers, cities and villages in ruins etc. while the second group in the background shows an idyllic, sleepy life in the mining landscape of Auchel after the end of the war. A miner's family is having a rest in the garden. The father picks fruit from a tree, a teenager takes a nap and the mother takes care of the baby.

The monument aux fusillés lillois

• 1929: The "  Monument aux fusillés lillois  " (German: "Monument to the executed citizens of Lille") in Lille (Nord-Pas-de-Calais) shows on the left side of the arrangement the businessman George Maertens with his arms crossed looking towards the sky , next to him also with crossed arms the sales representative Ernest Deceuninck from Armentières . The following shows the Belgian worker Sylvère Verhulst with his head bowed and arms hanging down as well as the wine merchant and secretary of the "Ligue des Droits de l'Homme", Eugène Jacquet. On the far right, Desruelles immortalized the young student Léon Trulin. Léon lies face down on the floor and gives the impression of already being dead. These five people were members of the "Comité Jacquet", a resistance movement, and were shot by the Germans as spies. Trulin was executed on November 8, 1915, the other four on September 22, 1915. The memorial is on "Square Daubenton". Apparently, in March 1915, a British plane made an emergency landing in Lille due to an engine failure in a suburb of Lille. Jacquet and his comrades helped bring the pilot back to his home country. Ironically and tragically (from a later point of view) the pilot, Robert Mapplebeck, flew over Lille some time later and dropped leaflets in which he thanked his rescuers as well as mocking Heinrich's German governor. This prompted the arrest of 200 members of the Jacquet organization. Many of those arrested were deported or imprisoned for longer, and Maertens, Deceuninck, Verhulst and Jacquet were executed. During the occupation of Lille in 1940, the monument was blown up by the Germans and reconstructed after the war with the help of Germaine Desruelles, the sculptor's widow.

• 1929: The Monument aux Fusiliers Marins in Dunkerque (Nord-Pas-de-Calais) is a joint effort by Desruelles and the architect Jean Morel . The monumental relief (20 × 22 m) in Square Guynemer is surmounted by a stele, the end of which is an allegorical figure of France with hands resting on the hilt of a sword. The stone and pink granite memorial is dedicated to the Marines ( Fusiliers marins ) killed in World War I , especially those of Admiral Alexis Ronarc'h's brigade and their role in the resistance against the German advance on the Yser in 1914. Desruelle's student Albert Patrisse (1892–1964) dealt with the restoration of this monument, which was badly damaged in 1940, in the year he died.

• 1930: The Monument aux morts d ' Arras , one of Desruelles ' most famous works, is on Place Foch opposite Arras' train station. The inauguration ceremony took place on November 22, 1931 under the direction of Marshal Philippe Pétain . Desruelles was the winner of a competition that was announced in 1928 for the erection of this monument. The monument contains a central column in the style of the ancient Mesopotamian temples. On the side of the column facing the train station is an angel embodying peace, at the top and bottom of the column there is a soldier. The inscription “ Arras a ses enfants morts pour la défense du droit  ” (German: “Arras his children who died for the defense of law”) is placed between the figures  . Under the angel of peace are the words "  La paix, les ailes largement déployées, debout sur le promontoire  ". Under the soldier there is another inscription: “  Le soldat français / here soldat de Dieu / aujourd'hui soldat de l'humanité / sera toujours le soldat du droit  ” (German: “The French soldier / yesterday soldier of God / today soldier of Humanity / forever a soldier of justice ”). Reliefs are attached to the right and left of the column, each on one side with peace or war as their theme. The peace theme is dealt with in depictions of "work" and shows life in the fields and in the factories. The war is not depicted as a great battle, but rather shows the daily life of the soldiers at the front.

• 1930: The Monument aux morts de Suippes ( Marne ) shows a young peasant woman with a bundle of wheat in her arms in front of the grave of a French soldier whose helmet hangs on the cross. The grave lies in the middle of a wheat field that has been harvested, and the harvesting work had made the grave visible.

• 1938: The Britannia statue in Boulogne-sur-Mer (Nord-Pas-de-Calais). The inscription on this monument reads

"Ce monument est érigé en commémoration de l'arrivée en 1914 des troupes britanniques, par un comité d'anciens combattants boulonnais et grâce à une souscription nationale. Il a été draw à la ville de Boulogne-sur-Mer et inauguré par MM. Les maréchaux Lord Cavan et Pétain, le 19 June 1938 en présence de LL. MM. Le roi Georges VI et la pure Elisabeth »

This Desruelles factory was destroyed by the Germans in July 1940.

Other works

Monument to Henri Legrand, 1928, Valenciennes

Sculpture Les Fruits , 1937, Paris, Parvis des droits de l'homme

• 1888: Le Doryphore , high relief, plaster, work submitted by Desruelles for the competition Concours d'esquisse modelée d'après l'antique , École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, Paris.

• 1891: La Rêverie , sculpture, work submitted by Desruelles for the Concours de la Tête d'Expression competition as part of his studies , École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, Paris.

• 1894: Portrait bust of the painter Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) , marble, signed and dated on the left: Fx. Desruelles 1894, Versailles

• 1899: L'enfant prodigue , stone statue, 142 × 193 × 137 cm, signed on the rock on the right: F. Desruelles, Musée des beaux-arts d'Angoulême

• 1918: Statue of Maréchal Moncey , statue, commissioned by Minister Dujardin-Beaumetz in 1910 for the north facade of the Pavillon de Marsan, Palais du Louvre , rue de Rivoli, Paris .

• 1922: Monument to Henri Ghesquière : This work consists of a bust of Ghesquière on a base and a representation of two figures (mother and daughter) below. This monument was unveiled in Lille in 1922 . In 2011, however, it was completely restored afterwards, the target of an act of vandalism.

• 1923: Tomb of Henri Durre in the Saint-Roch cemetery in Valenciennes . Durre was a socialist MP who was murdered by the Germans on October 23, 1918.

• 1928: Monument to Henri Legrand in Valenciennes ( Nord-Pas-de-Calais ). This memorial commemorates the life of the teacher Henri Legrand, who was executed by the Germans during the First World War. It stands on Avenue Villars and was unveiled on July 22, 1928. Legrand was charged with treason and espionage and was charged with sharing military secrets with carrier pigeons. He was arrested at the school on Rue des Capucins where he was teaching. After spending several months in prison, he was executed. The memorial shows Legrand in front of a group of students listening to their teacher. The inscription "  Se dévouer pour la patrie  " (German: "You have given yourself for the fatherland") is attached to the relief.

• 1929: Jeune Fille (Young Girl), original exhibited in the Exposition d'art français (1929), Palais des Beaux-arts, Brussels; Bronze cast in 1929 by A. Rudier Fondeur Paris, 109 × 40 × 30.5, owned by the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique

• 1930: Memorial to Matías Cousiño , plaster draft in 1930 exhibited in the Salon des Artistes Français; Cast in bronze and signed at the base of the statue Felix DESRUELLES , foundry mark F. Baroperne Fondeur , Park Isidora Cousiño, Lota Alto , Chile .

• ???: Tomb of Monseigneur Julien , Bishop of Arras († 1930), statue with a grave cross and helmets in front, Basilica Notre-Dame de Lorette, Ablain-Saint-Nazaire .

• 1932: Monument in honor of Christophe Thivrier (1841–1895), portrait bust, bronze, signed on the front right: F. Desruelles, on a more recent pedestal, Avenue Marx-Dormoy (Avenue de la Gare?), Commentry. Isidore Thivier (1874-1944), Mayor of Commentry from 1936 to 1940 and member of parliament, took the initiative to erect the monument on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the world's first socialist community in June 1882 by his father Christophe Thivrier.

• Tomb of Emmanuel Dossche and Adelaïde Ythier . The statue made by Desruelles at this tomb shows a young woman guarding a candle flame.

• 1937: Les Fruits , statue on the outside of the Palais de Chaillot on Parvis des droits de l'homme (Place of Human Rights), Paris, gilded bronze.

• La paix armée Péronne ( Somme ) is a bronze statue that was purchased by the Museum Historial de la Grande Guerre in Péronne and is on display there.

Works purchased by the Musée de Tessé in Le Mans in 1931

• "Cérès"

• "L'Enfant a l'Oie", a small statuette

• "Maternity" also has a statuette

honors and awards

• 1891: Deuxième Second Grand Prix de Rome for Apollon chantant au milieu des bergers
• 1893: Premier Second Grand Prix de Rome for L'Age d'Or (The Golden Age)
• 1897: Prix national des Salons
• 1900: Gold medal at the Paris World Exhibition in 1900
• 1939: Admission to the Académie des Beaux-Arts as successor to Georges Gardet on the armchair V of Section II - Sculpture
• 1958: The city of Paris decides to rename the Square Saint-Germain-des-Prés , which was laid out in 1901, and gives this small green area bordering the south facade of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés church at number 168 to Boulevard Saint-Germain Name Square Félix-Desruelles . The "La Fontaine pastorale" fountain, created by Desruelles and still in existence today, was erected there in 1921.

various

• The photo of the work "Pastorale" from 1887, a skin relief as a plaster cast, is one of several photographs in an album of works that were purchased by the French state from the "Service des Beaux-Arts. Salon de 1897".

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Civil status register, Births Valenciennes (1865–1866), Archives du Nord, entry 1865, no. 320, online on the Archives du Nord website ( Memento of the original of March 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Philippe Rivé: Monuments de mémoire: les monuments aux morts de la première guerre mondiale , La Mission, 1991, p 261
3. ^ Hazebrouck Institut de Recherches Historiques du Septentrion / Base de données de monuments aux morts. University of Lille. Last accessed on January 9, 2014. The same source mentions the sundial attached to a house wall next to the monument, which is dedicated to the citizens of Hazebrouck who suffered from heavy artillery fire from the Germans on December 13 and 14, 1917. Among the dead were some priests who prayed in the neighboring presbytery. According to tradition, the sundial is exactly where the priests died.
4. ↑ Auchel Monuments aux morts pacifistes. Last accessed on January 9, 2014
5. ^ Chemins de Memoire. Last accessed on January 9, 2014.
6. ^ Fusiliers marins Institut de Recherches Historiques du Septentrion / Base de données de monuments aux morts. University of Lille. Last accessed on January 9, 2014
7. ^ "La Bataille de l'Yser, Les Fusiliers Marins a Dixmude" by Jean Mabire. Published by Fayard. 1979.
8. ↑ La Voix du Nord , online August 26, 2009 , accessed June 25, 2014.
9. ^ "Statue Britannia" Boulogne Memoires de Pierre. Last accessed on January 9, 2014
10. ↑ Le Doryphore ( Memento of the original dated February 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris. Last accessed on June 16, 2014.  
11. ↑ La Rêverie ( Memento of the original from February 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris. Last accessed on June 16, 2014.  
12. ↑ Laurence Posselle, Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon: Delacroix à Versailles: autour de la Bataille de Taillebourg , Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 1998, p. 61
13. ^ Eugène Delacroix Last accessed on January 9, 2014
14. ^ Béatrice Rolin: Fantômes de pierre: la sculpture à Angoulême 1860-1930 , GERMA, 1995, p. 52
15. ↑ Jean-Pierre Thomas: Le guide des effigies de Paris , Editions L'Harmattan, 2002, p. 34ff
16. ^ Statue of Moncey Le décor extérieur du Louvre. Last accessed on January 9, 2014
17. ^ Ghesquière La Voix de Nord. Last accessed on January 9, 2014
18. ↑ Henri Durre Base de données of députés français depuis 1789. Last accessed January 9, 2014
19. ^ Henri Legrand Statues-Monuments in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. Contains a short biography of Carpeaux. Last accessed on January 9, 2014
20. ↑ Jeune Fille (1929) on the website of the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, accessed on June 16, 2014.
21. ^ Société des artistes français: Expliation des ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, architecture, gravure ... exposés au Palais des Champs-Elysées , Charles de Mourgues frères, 1930, p. 167
22. ↑ Monument à Mathias Cousiño in the database of the Patrimoine monumental français et étranger e-monumen.net ( Memento of the original from March 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (with additional link), accessed on June 16, 2014. 
23. ^ Undated photo of the study for the grave figure of Monseigneur Julien , taken in the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille, photo library of the Réunion des Musées Nationaux (RMN), accessed on June 16, 2014
24. ↑ Commentry Petit-patrimoine.com. Last accessed on January 9, 2014
25. ↑ Commentry Webpage with information on the Thivrier bust. ( Memento of the original from January 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Last accessed on January 9, 2014  
26. ↑ Les Fruits 1937, exposition international des arts et techniques dans la vie modern. Le palais de chaillot et le musée d'art modern de Paris. Last accessed on January 9, 2014
27. ^ "La paix armée" Culture.gouv.fr. Last accessed on January 13, 2014
28. ^ "Cérès" Joconde Portail des collections des musées de France. Last accessed on January 13, 2014
29. ^ "L'Enfant a l'Oie" Joconde Portail des collections des musées de France. Last accessed on January 13, 2014
30. ^ "Maternite" Joconde Portail des collections des musées de France. Last accessed on January 13, 2014
31. ↑ Pierre Claude François Daunou, Pierre Antoine Lebrun, Barthélemy Haureau…: Journal des savants, Editions Klincksieck, 1891, p. 633
32. ↑ Ler Génie civil: revue générale hebdomadaire des industries françaises et étrangères, Editions du Génie Civil et de la Métallurgie Tour Palerme, 1893, p. 241
33. ^ List of academics in Section II - Sculpture on the website of the Académie des Beaux-Arts
34. ↑ See website of the mayor's office of VI. Arrondissements Mairie 6e , accessed June 9, 2014
35. ↑ http://www.parisrues.com/rues06/paris-06-square-felix-desruelles.html Last accessed on January 11, 2014
36. ^ "Pastorale" Archives de France, dossier albums des salons du XIXe siècle; salon de 1897. Last accessed on January 9, 2014

Web links

Commons : Félix-Alexandre Desruelles  - Collection of images

• Félix Desruelles in the photo library of the Réunion des musées nationaux et du Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées (RMN-GP)