René Marie Joseph Leleu (11 June 1911 – June 1984) was a French sculptor and

medallist A medalist (or medallist) is an artist who designs medals, plaquettes, badges, metal medallions, coins and similar small works in relief in metal. Historically, medalists were typically also involved in producing their designs, and were usually e ...

Life

René Leleu was born in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

on 11 June 1911. He studied at the École des beaux-arts in Lille from 1927 to 1929. He was a pupil of Aimé-Gustave Blaise in Lille. Leleu then studied under

Paul Landowski Paul Maximilien Landowski (1 June 1875 – 31 March 1961) was a French monument sculptor of Polish descent. His best-known work is '' Christ the Redeemer'' in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Biography Landowski was born in Paris, France, of a Polish re ...

and

Marcel Gaumont Marcel Gaumont was a French sculptor born on 27 January 1880 in Tours. He died in Paris on 20 November 1962. Biography Gaumont was a pupil at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and studied under Louis-Ernest Barrias ...

at the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in nor ...

in Paris. He won the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

in 1939. Due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(1939–45) he was unable to study in Rome, but was given a scholarship by the French Academy to stay at the Villa Paradiso in Nice, and then at

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

. After the war Leleu devoted himself almost exclusively to monumental sculpture. He created the ''Monument à la Résistance'' of Bohain in 1946. He then spent seven years to complete the ''Minotauromachie'', which he showed at the Salon de la Jeune Sculpture in 1957. He taught sculpture and art history at the École des beaux-arts in Valenciennes from 1950 to 1959. He was then made a lecturer at the U.P. d'Architecture in Rouen. René Leleu created one of the bronze sculptures for the

Mémorial de la France combattante The Mémorial de la France combattante (Memorial to Fighting France) is the most important memorial to French fighters of World War II (1939–1945). It is situated below Fort Mont-Valérien in Suresnes, in the western suburbs of Paris. It commemo ...

Mont Valérien Mont may refer to: Places * Mont., an abbreviation for Montana, a U.S. state * Mont, Belgium (disambiguation), several places in Belgium * Mont, Hautes-Pyrénées, a commune in France * Mont, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a commune in France * Mont, Sa� ...

in 1960. It depicts a phoenix rising from its ashes, and represents the liberation of

Alençon Alençon (, , ; ) is a commune in Normandy, France, and the capital of the Orne department. It is situated between Paris and Rennes (about west of Paris) and a little over north of Le Mans. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alen� ...

on 12 August 1944, the first step towards Paris and Strasbourg. He was a founding member of the Salon Comparaisons. He died in Paris in 1984.

Works

Sculptures by Leleu include: *''Alençon'', Mémorial de la France combattante, Mont Valérien *''Héros mourant'', plâster, Palais des beaux-arts de Lille *''Combattant'', bronze, Palais des beaux-arts de Lille *''Le Silence'', gilded bronze, Musée national d'art moderne Paris *''Minotauromachie'', plaster, musée des beaux-arts de Valenciennes. *''Le penseur'', reconstituted stone, Lycée Branly, La Roche-sur-Yon

Publications

Leleu completed ''Les métamorphoses de l'art'' in 1954. It was finally published posthumously through the efforts of Jean-Claude Poinsignon, who had organized an exhibition of Leleu's work in 1987 in the Hôtel de ville of

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

. *

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leleu, Rene Marie Joseph 1911 births 1984 deaths Prix de Rome for sculpture 20th-century French sculptors French male sculptors