Jean-Yves Lechevallier, ʒɑ̃ iv ləʃəvæljeɪ born in 1946 in Rouen, Normandy, is a French sculptor painter, and laureate of the ''Flame of Europe'' art competition organized by the '' Robert Schuman association for Europe'' in 1977 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Rome treaties.

Biography

Jean Yves Lechevallier grew up surrounded by blueprints, sketches and models, as his father was an architect. His first known carving was of a stone brought back from a holiday trip to

Les Baux-de-Provence Les Baux-de-Provence (; oc, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal, Lei Bauç de Provença), commonly called Baux, is a Communes of France, commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regio ...

. A few years later, he held his first solo exhibition in 1961 at age 15, a showing of hand carved animal sculptures (Provençal Stone) at the ''Prigent Gallery'' in Rouen.
In 1966, at age 20, he got his first commission from a family friend and urban architect (Robert Louard) who was in charge of new construction on an island in Rouen. He graduated from the Regional School of Fine Arts in Rouen and the ENSAD, Higher School of Visual arts and Design in Paris. His first job was as a scale model builder/creator for the architect Badini.

Art

Jean Yves Lechevallier is influenced by the thoughts of sculptor and poet Jean Arp, especially his ''Nature in Sculpture'' and ''Sculpture in Nature''. His work is rather diverse in terms of materials, composition, and style: he creates low reliefs, high reliefs, murals, mosaïcs, caryatids and monumental pieces. His preferred materials are: exotic woods, stone and marble; metals such as copper, aluminium, bronze or stainless steel; polyester and concrete, sometimes reinforced with fiber inclusion. In fact, his particularities motivated a cement manufacturer to create a special mixture called ''cridofibre'' which is a registered trademark today. Beginning in the post-WWII reconstruction years, thanks to culture-promoting politics and subsidized support for the arts in France, Lechevallier's work was commissioned by both municipal government and the French State.
These works are part of the architectural landscape today in many cities throughout France, mainly in Normandy, Paris and the

Riviera ''Riviera'' () is an Italian word which means "coastline", ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria, in the form ''Riviera ligure'', then shortened in English. The two areas ...

. They can be seen in public gardens, public squares, schools, fire and police stations, institutions of higher education, residential complexes as well as in some preserved natural areas such as ''La Croix des Gardes'' forest parkland above the city of

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...

. Lechevallier specializes in monumental open-air pieces. As Corinne Schuler says in ''Sentiers de la Sculpture'': "By forcing art into confined spaces, you lose so much in terms of its beauty." Two specific examples of this are ''Point d'orgue'' and ''Croix des Gardes'': * ''Point d'orgue'' hangs on the rocks at the entrance to the tunnel, on the main highway leading to Monaco. Its convex polished steel surfaces reflect the changing colors of it natural light environment, from the soft dawn to the bright glare of high noon, but reflects the car headlights and road signals once the sun begins to set. * ''Croix des Gardes'' is a sparkling steel structure atop a hill overlooking the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

, and represents the ancient tradition of horizon-dominating high-altitude constructions. Because of its altitude, warning lights attached to its upper framework indicate its presence to planes landing at the nearby

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

airport. Another one of Lechevallier's specialties is ''Fountains'', demonstrating how water movement and sound can make a sculpture sing. Among these: * Fountain ''Cristaux'', in Paris, an homage to the musician Béla Bartók is a sculptural transcription of the composer's research on tonal harmony. * Fountain ''Polypores'' in Paris, featured in the musical film by

Alain Resnais Alain Resnais (; 3 June 19221 March 2014) was a French film director and screenwriter whose career extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included ...

, Same Old Song.

Notable works

* ''Voile'' (sail), Isle Lacroix, Rouen, 1966 * ''Fountain Fleurs d'eau'' (Water Flowers) on the banks of the Seine river, Rouen, 1975 * ''Fountain Cristaux'', Homage to Béla Bartók in square Béla Bartók, Paris, 1980 * ''Fountain Polypores'' inspired by the

Polyporus ''Polyporus'' is a genus of poroid fungi in the family Polyporaceae. Taxonomy Italian botanist Pier Antonio Micheli introduced the genus in 1729 to include 14 species featuring fruit bodies with centrally-placed stipes, and pores on the under ...

mushrooms, Paris, 1983 *''Fountain Concretion'', Théoule-sur-Mer, 1987 *''Humakos V'', Peymeinade, 1989 *''La Croix des Gardes'' where religious services are held on occasions, 1990 *''Aile Entravée'' (Fettered Wing) designed during the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

, Gardens of the Fine Arts Museum in

Menton Menton (; , written ''Menton'' in classical norm or ''Mentan'' in Mistralian norm; it, Mentone ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italian border. Me ...

, 1991 *''Point d'orgue'', Tunnel to Monaco, 1992 *''Structuration F1'' for Ferrari in Maranello Italie, incorporating the F1 body created for

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

, 2002 *''Fountain Spirale'', Saint-Tropez, 2007 *''Fountain Fungia'',

Draguignan Draguignan (; oc, Draguinhan) is a commune in the Var department in the administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (formerly Provence), southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department and self-proclaimed "capital of ...

, 2007 * ''Red Love'', 2009 More commissioned works exist, being held by private companies and collectors in Germany, France, Monaco, and the US. La lutte des elements. Jean Yves Lechevallier.jpg, High relief ''La lutte des élements'', Le Chesnay Fleur d'eau Rouen. Jean Yves Lechevallier.jpg, Fountain ''Fleurs d'eau'', Rouen Cristaux.Jean Yves Lechevallier.jpg, Fountain ''Cristaux'', Paris Polypores Fountain. Jean Yves Lechevallier.jpg, Fountain ''Polypores'', Paris Humakos V. Jean Yves Lechevallier.jpg, Sculpture ''Humakos V'', Peymeinade, Fungia, Jean Yves Lechevallier.jpg, Fountain ''Fungia'', Draguignan

Major Shows, Art Fairs and Prizes

A selection: * Museum of Modern Art, Enzo Pagani Foundation, Castellanza (Va) Italie, 1973 * Municipal Museum

Mougins Mougins (; oc, Mogins ; la, Muginum ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes département in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 19,982. It is located on the heights of Cannes, in the a ...

(Sculptures, paintings and pastels), 1993 * Chapelle Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Saint-Jeannet. (Quadrige Gallery), 1995 * Sentiers de la Sculpture, Polo club Saint Tropez, 2010 * Salon Réalités Nouvelles, Paris, 1972 *

Salon de Mai The Salon de Mai (the '' May Salon'') is a group of French artists which formed in a café on the Rue Dauphine in Paris in 1943 during the German occupation of France.Ferrier, Jean-Louis. (Ed.) (1999) ''Art of the 20th Century''. Paris: Chene-Hache ...

, Paris, 1999 * Laureate "Flame Of Europe", 1977 * Top award in sculpture,

Patrick Baudry Patrick Pierre Roger Baudry (born March 6, 1946 in Cameroon) is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the French Air Force and a former CNES astronaut. In 1985, he became the second French citizen in space, after Jean-Loup Chrétien, when he flew ab ...

''Space camp'', 1991 * Honor award from the city of

Grasse Grasse (; Provençal oc, Grassa in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional it, Grassa) is the only subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region on the French Riviera. In 2017, the c ...

, ''For Europe Show'', 1990 * Selected for the Fujisankei ''Utsukushi-Ga-Hara'' by the Hakone Open air Museum in Japan (Humakos V), 1993

Notes and references

The information on this page is partially translated from the equivalent page in French Jean-Yves Lechevallier, licensed under the Creative Commons/Attribution Sharealik

History of contributions can be checked here: :fr:Jean-Yves Lechevallier?offset=20140920&action=history, Jean-Yves Lechevallier?offset=20140920&action=history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lechevallier, Jean-Yves 20th-century French sculptors French male sculptors 21st-century sculptors 1946 births Living people