Jules-Charles Le Bozec (1898–1973) was a French sculptor, whose work reflects a commitment to the local design traditions of his native province of

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

Biography

Le Bozec was born in

Saint-Mayeux Saint-Mayeux () is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. Demographics Inhabitants of Saint-Mayeux are known in French as ''mayochins''. Sights *The church bell, reconstructed in 1730, previously said ...

Côtes-d'Armor The Côtes-d'Armor (, ; ; br, Aodoù-an-Arvor, ), formerly known as Côtes-du-Nord ( br, Aodoù-an-Hanternoz, link=no, ), are a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 600,582.

, Brittany. He was apprenticed to the

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

Alfred Ély-Monbet, of the nearby village of Caurel. He then moved on to study at the École des Beaux-Arts of

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

, before progressing to that of Paris. He was a pupil of the sculptor Jean Boucher, for whom he always retained a profound respect mingled with affection. Le Bozec settled in

Mellionnec Mellionnec (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. The chapel of La Pitié is situated in the commune. Population Inhabitants of Mellionnec are called ''mellionnecais'' in French. Population is st ...

. With Marcel Le Louët,

Georges Robin Georges Robin (1904–1928), also known as Jorj Robin, was a sculptor and designer from Nantes. Robin was a member of the Breton nationalist art movement Seiz Breur, working at the magazine ''Kornog'', founded by the movement's leader René-Yv ...

and others he joined the Breton art movement ''

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. ...

'', a group of young artists who were dedicated to the revival of

decorative arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. It includes most of the arts making objects for the interiors of buildings, and interior design, but not usual ...

in Brittany. With James Bouillé and

Xavier de Langlais Xavier de Langlais (April 26, 1906 in Sarzeau – June 15, 1975) was a Breton painter, printmaker and writer. He usually signed his work with the name Langleiz, a Breton language version of his surname. Early career Langlais studied art in Na ...

, he also helped to found An Droellen, the Breton studio of Christian Art. In 1927, in collaboration with the painter

René-Yves Creston René-Yves Creston (25 October 1898 – 30 May 1964), born René Pierre Joseph Creston, was a Breton artist, designer and ethnographer who founded the Breton nationalist art movement Seiz Breur. During World War II he was active in the French Res ...

, he designed the costumes for three plays: ''Ar C'hornandoned'', by Yann Bayon and

Jean-Marie Perrot The abbé Jean-Marie Perrot, in Breton Yann Vari Perrot (3 September 1877 in Plouarzel, Finistère – 12 December 1943 in Scrignac), was a Breton priest, Breton independentist assassinated by the Communist resistance. He was the founder of ...

, ''Tog Jani'' by Yves Le Moal and ''Lina'' by

Roparz Hemon Louis-Paul Némo (18 November 1900 – 29 June 1978), better known by the pseudonym Roparz Hemon, was a Breton author and scholar of Breton expression. He was the author of numerous dictionaries, grammars, poems and short stories. He also fou ...

, the first performance of which took place in January 1927. Soon becoming well known, he received many commissions from churches and chapels in Brittany, including

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

s for altars, as well as war memorials, which were built in large numbers at this period after World War I. Some of Le Bozec's sculptures were reproduced by the ceramics company '' Faïencerie HB-Henriot'' in

Quimper Quimper (, ; br, Kemper ; la, Civitas Aquilonia or ) is a commune and prefecture of the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. Administration Quimper is the prefecture (capital) of the Finistère department. Geography The ...

, whose activities date back to 1690. Among these were "Woman Digging" (1930) which is a reduced version of the sculpture ''Earth'', which had been exhibited at the Salon in 1927. Another was "Meditation", showing the bust from Le Bozec's original work, ''The Potato Harvester''. This latter work was reissued in 2007 from the original moulds and is included in the new catalogue of the pottery in its collection of "Quimper White" ware. At an auction in the Drouot hotel in Paris, another of his works - ''Young Girl with an Umbrella'' - reproduced by the Faïencerie HB-Henriot reached the sum of 3100 euros. In 1937, he made sculptures for the Chapel of Koat-Keo in Scrignac (

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

), built by his friend James Bouillé at the initiative of Abbot Perrot, founder of the Breton Catholic youth organization ''

Bleun-Brug Bleun-Brug (Flower of the heather) is a Catholic association oriented towards Breton nationalism. Origins The group was created in 1905 by abbé Jean-Marie Perrot, with a name devised at the 1905 conference of the Union Régionaliste Bretonne at ...

''. The chapel is seen as a significant attempt to create a distinctive modern Breton architecture. In 1946, he created the granite statue of ''Our Lady of Kerdro'' in Locmariaquer. 2.70 metres high, the sculpture was left for sixteen years in the church before being moved to the edge of Kerpenhir to replace another statue that had been erected in 1883, but had been destroyed during World War II. He died at

Biography

See also