Francis Renaud (sculptor)
Encyclopedia
Francis Renaud was a French sculptor mainly noted for his monumental granite public memorials in Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

.

Born in Saint-Brieuc
Saint-Brieuc
Saint-Brieuc is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France.-History:Saint-Brieuc is named after a Welsh monk Brioc, who evangelized the region in the 6th century and established an oratory there...

, Côtes d'Armor, Brittany, Renaud was associated with the revival of Breton nationalist ideals in art in the early 20th century. His earlier works are in a style close to Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...

, influenced by the work of his tutor Jean Boucher
Jean Boucher (artist)
Jean Boucher was a French sculptor based in Brittany. He is best known for his public memorial sculptures which communicated his liberal politics and patriotic dedication to France and Brittany.-Early years:Boucher was born in Cesson-Sévigné near Rennes, Brittany...

. He later moved towards more simplified and stylised forms influenced by Breton traditions, joining the nationalist art movement Seiz Breur
Seiz Breur
Seiz Breur was an artistic movement founded in 1923 in Brittany. Although it adopted the symbolic name seiz breur, meaning seven brothers in the Breton language, this did not refer to the number of members, but to the title of a folk-story...

.

Retaining a studio in Paris, he also lived for part of the year in his native Brittany, where he used local Kersanton granite for his most notable works, especially the Pleureuse de Tréguier (1922), the town of Tréguier
Tréguier
Tréguier is a port town in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is the capital of the province of Trégor.-Geography:Tréguier is located 36 m. N.W. of Saint-Brieuc by road. The port is situated about 5½ m...

's memorial to the dead of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. It depicts a local woman, Marie-Louise Le Put, who had lost her husband in the war and had also lost their three young children. She is shown seated, wrapped in a mourning gown. The memorial is notable for its stylised grandeur and solidity, symbolising the stoicism and resilience of local people. The art historian Malvina Hoffman writes that its "massive design commands reverence and respect".

In addition to the famous Pleureuse de Tréguier, he also created memorials in Ploufragan
Ploufragan
Ploufragan is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Bretagne in northwestern France.Ploufragan is a neighboring commune of Saint-Brieuc.-Population:Inhabitants of Ploufragan are called ploufraganais.-External links:*...

, Trévé
Trévé
Trévé is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Bretagne in northwestern France.-Population:Inhabitants of Trévé are called trévéens.-External links:*...

 and Saint-Brieuc
Saint-Brieuc
Saint-Brieuc is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France.-History:Saint-Brieuc is named after a Welsh monk Brioc, who evangelized the region in the 6th century and established an oratory there...

, where Renaud also made another emblematic sculpture representing a Breton woman in traditional dress as an icon of local identity.

Renaud was also notable for memorial sculptures to Breton intellectuals such as the poet Anatole Le Braz
Anatole Le Braz
Anatole le Braz, the "Bard of Brittany" was a Breton folklore collector and translator. He was highly regarded amongst both European and American scholars, and known for his warmth and charm....

, the composer Guy Ropartz and the novelist Pierre Loti
Pierre Loti
Pierre Loti was a French novelist and naval officer.-Biography:Loti's education began in his birthplace, Rochefort, Charente-Maritime. At the age of seventeen he entered the naval school in Brest and studied at Le Borda. He gradually rose in his profession, attaining the rank of captain in 1906...

. His memorial to Le Braz comprises a granite pillar in the College A. Braz, Saint-Brieuc, elaborately carved with symbolic figures representing Breton identity. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

Renaud created another sculpture for the college, a statue of a naked youth entitled l'Ephebe, representing pupils of the College who had been deported and killed by the Nazis.

External links

Mairie de Saint Brieuc
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