448 - Evariste JONCHERE (1892–1956).

Evariste JONCHERE (1892–1956). First Grand Prix de Rome, 1925. Peace and Prosperity, “France Gives to the Colonies” “France Receives from the Colonies” (1931). Pair of bronze bas-reliefs with a brown patina, signed and numbered 16 on the lower part. H. 30 cm - W. 36 cm & H. 30 cm - W. 37 cm “A Tapestry of Stone” by Véronique Reynaud. Bronze reductions of the monumental plaster work—now lost—commissioned from Evariste Jonchère for the façade of the Metropolitan Pavilion at the 1931 Colonial Exposition. The commission was part of the grand ideological project of Marshal Lyautey, the exhibition’s commissioner general, to “instill an imperial consciousness in the French people.” This monumental commission marked a turning point in Jonchère’s career, as he had just returned from Rome. To meet the decorative requirements, Jonchère simplified the lines and volumes. The two bas-reliefs are built around the same pyramidal composition, at the summit of which France is enthroned—monumental, hieratic, draped like a goddess—while at her feet her subjects go about their daily activities of fishing and farming. The subject, rendered in flat relief, is unmistakably reminiscent of Egyptian art as well as the work of the sculptor Jeanniot. The contrast between the simplified lines and the multitude of details gives the subject all its strength and power. With these bas-reliefs, Évariste Jonchère created a work of great intensity. Bibliography: Roger Gain, *Évariste Jonchère*, in collaboration with Mrs. Évariste Jonchère Debiol and Adam Biro, Paris, 1991, pp. 54–55 Exhibition at the Musée d’Art et d’Industrie, Saint-Étienne, 1979.