Armand Jules Le Véel

Attributed to ARMAND JULES LE VÉEL (France, 1821-1905).
"Le garde champetre".
Patinated bronze
Missing drum sticks.
Measurements: 54 x 23 x 25 cm.

Sculpture attributed to Le Véel, who in his beginnings realized series of statuettes inspired by episodes and personages of the history of France: a Ligueur, a Huguenot and a Représentant du peuple aux armées. This interest in military and civic figures, represented with a certain heroic air but in a popular key, is in keeping with the theme of the "country guard", also in keeping with the author's solid and expressive modeling style.

French sculptor. The eldest son of a humble family with thirteen children, he showed an interest in drawing from an early age. After a period as a clerk in Rouen, in 1840 he moved to Paris to devote himself to art, working in minor trades until he entered the workshop of the sculptor François Rude in 1845, thanks to Auguste Poitevin. There he became acquainted with Frémiet and Carpeaux and adopted a romantic inspiration. In 1848 he took an active part in the Paris Revolution. From 1850 he was able to resume his career thanks to grants and local commissions, such as a bust of Admiral de Tourville. In 1855 he obtained the important commission for an equestrian statue of Napoleon for Cherbourg, inaugurated in 1858 during the visit of Napoleon III and the Empress Eugénie. However, the ceremony went almost unnoticed and Le Véel did not receive the distinction he had hoped for, partly because of his independent character and his revolutionary past, although he was finally decorated in 1863. Throughout his career he produced numerous works in bronze, marble and stone, including a Tancrède de Hauteville for the cathedral of Coutances and several statues of Joan of Arc. In 1870 he was part of the commission chaired by Gustave Courbet to protect the works of art in Paris during the Franco-Prussian war. In 1882 he retired to Cherbourg, where he was appointed curator of the Thomas-Henry Museum. He donated part of his works and collections to the city, today preserved in the museum itself and in the Museum of Fine Arts in Bordeaux. He died in 1905 and was buried in the cemetery of the Aiguillons in Cherbourg.