François Bazin (sculptor)
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François Bazin was born in Paris on 31 October 1897 and died in Paris in 1956. His parents were engravers and medalists. Early years were spent in
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
where his parents taught at the
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art college. The family returned to Paris in 1913 and Bazin enrolled at the Paris École des Beaux-Art. He was mobilized in 1916 and attached to a squadron whose planes were equipped with Hispano Suiza engines. After the war he completed his studies and was runner-up for the Prix de Rome in 1925. Although not a Breton many of his works can be seen in
Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
including "The monument aux bigoudens", the monument at the Pointe de Pen Hir and the "Filles de la mer" statue at
Quimper Quimper (, ; ; or ) is a Communes of France, commune and Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Finistère Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. Administration Quimper is the ...
.


Main works


"La Volonté"

The École nationale supérieure Beaux-arts in Paris have traditionally kept in their collections, the works of former students and have Bazin's plaster bust "La Volonté" which he completed for the school's competition "La Tête d'expression" in 1922.


Pointe de Pen-Hir

The 1949 Monument to the Bretons of Free France, known as the Cross of Pen-Hir, is located here. It celebrates the activities of the group of Free French Britons who founded Sao Breiz in Great Britain during the Second World War. The monument was designed by the architect Jean-Baptiste Mathon and the sculptural work is by Bazin. The monument was commissioned by the "Association des Français Libres" and the plot of land on which the monument stands was a gift from the commune of
Camaret-sur-Mer Camaret-sur-Mer (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department in northwestern France, located at the end of Crozon peninsula. Sights Camaret-sur-Mer is home to the '' Tour Vauban'' or ''Tour dorée'' (lit. "Golden Tower"), a historic fortifi ...
, its proximity to the sea recalling the route taken by a number of Bretons to reach English shores. The architect Jean-Baptiste Mathon was greatly involved in the reconstruction of Brest after the end of the 1939-1945 war and he chose to design a monument shaped like the
Cross of Lorraine The Cross of Lorraine (), known as the Cross of Anjou in the 16th century, is a heraldry, heraldic two-barred cross, consisting of a vertical line crossed by two shorter horizontal bars. In most renditions, the horizontal bars are "graded" with ...
. Bazin's sculpture has been described as "
cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...
". There are two inscriptions and taken from the motto of Brittany "death rather than defilement".


The monument aux bigoudens

Bazin's sculpture by the side of the river at
Pont-l'Abbé Pont-l'Abbé (; , "Abbot's bridge") is a Communes of France, commune in the Finistère Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in north-western France. The self-styled capital of Pays Bigouden (roughly th ...
captures the women of a
Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...
family worrying over the fate of the fishermen in their family out at sea in a storm. He executed the work in 1931. The women depicted cover five generations of a family and we have the grandmother, the mother, the sister, and two young daughters and in their faces Bazin tries to capture their anxiety, their sadness and their resignation to fate. The work is completed with two bas-reliefs depicting scenes from
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
and Breton mythology. The women wear
bigouden Bigouden ( Breton: ''Bro-Vigoudenn''; French: ''Pays Bigouden''), historically known as Cap Caval, is, along the Bay of Audierne, the most south-western area of ''Bro Kernev'' in Brittany, south-west of Quimper, defined since 1790 in the French d ...
costume. There are two inscriptions, " ''Aux Bigoudens''" and "''Terre de pardons et de légendes''". The sculpture was shown at the 1929 Salon and was awarded a gold medal and the "Prix National". The monument stands in the Saint-Laurent wood near the Notre Dames des Carmes church. The lighthouses of Eckmühl and
Ar Men Ar Men ("the rock" in Breton) is a lighthouse at one end of the Chaussée de l' Île de Sein, at the west end of Brittany. It shares its name with the rock on which it was erected between 1867 and 1881. It is a listed monument since 2017. Ar M ...
, the flight of Saint-Guénolé and King Gradlon, Tristan, Yseult and Morhold, the Bag-Noz, Morgane, the trespass of Ker-d Ys, Dahut, King Arthur and the "Round table" and the fairy Viviane and Merlin all figure in Bazin's elaborate bas-reliefs.


"Aux filles de la mer"

Bazin completed this sculpture in 1935. He presents us with two Breton women, one from Sein and the other from Ouessant who stand in front of a
Menhir A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Br ...
awaiting the return of their men from sea, a theme favoured by Bazin as with his study of the bigouden women at Pont-L’abbé. This sculpture stands near the Pont Firmin in the rue Jacques Cartier in
Quimper Quimper (, ; ; or ) is a Communes of France, commune and Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Finistère Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. Administration Quimper is the ...
.


"Etalon breton"

This bronze Bazin sculpture dating to 1939 is kept in
Quimper Quimper (, ; ; or ) is a Communes of France, commune and Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Finistère Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. Administration Quimper is the ...
's Préfecture du Finistère.


Works in porcelain

Many of Bazin's works were produced in porcelain, one such being "Aviateur" which Sèvres brought out in 1931. An example is held in
Allier Allier ( , , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region that borders Cher (department), Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire (department), Loire to the east, Pu ...
's Musée Vichy.


Cachan monument to the F.F.I

This Bazin sculpture is to be found at the corner of the rue de la Division Leclerc and the avenue Vatier in
Cachan Cachan () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The prestigious École Spéciale des Travaux Publics is located there. Name During the Middle Ages, Cachan was referred to in Medieval ...
and is dedicated "Aux héros F.F.I. de Cachan tués en combat le 21 Août 1944". It remembers the members of the Free French Forces killed fighting the Germans on 21 August 1944.


The tomb of Monseigneur Duparc. Bishop of Quimper

Bazin executed this bronze of Adolphe Duparc in 1946 and it can be seen in Quimper's Cathédrale Saint-Corentin.


Memorial to Julia Guillou at Pont-Aven

Pont-Aven Pont-Aven (; in Breton) is a commune in the Finistère department in the Brittany region in Northwestern France. Demographics Inhabitants of Pont-Aven are called in French. Pont-Aven absorbed the former commune of Nizon in 1954, which had ...
was much favoured as a base by many French artists and Julia Guillou ran the "l’Hôtel de Voyageurs", several artist's studios and the "Villa Julia" at Port-Manech. Pierre-Auguste Renoir stayed at the hotel in 1893. Bazin was commissioned to add a sculpture to this memorial in Gouillou's honour.


Memorial to the aviator J.Cazale

It was at Buc that
Louis Blériot Louis Charles Joseph Blériot ( , also , ; 1 July 1872 – 1 August 1936) was a French aviator, inventor, and engineer. He developed the first practical headlamp for cars and established a profitable business manufacturing them, using much of t ...
created an airfield in 1909/1910 and founded l’École d’aviation which in 1915 became the "Ecole d’aviation militaire". Bazin created the sculpture for a granite monument to the aviator J.Cazale, erected at the airfield and it is not known if this still exists.


Monument to Jean Bourhis

Bazin's sculpture can be seen in Bannalec. Bourhis was born in Bannalec and was one of the early French aviators and a test pilot working with Blériot. He was also a pioneer parachutist. Served as a pilot in the 1914-1918 war, he was badly injured in 1916 in combat with several German planes in the vicinity of
Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...
and died shortly after. His body was returned to Bannalec in 1922 for re-burial. A monument in his memory was erected in Bannalec's place de l’église and Bazin was commissioned to sculpt Bourhis' bust for this monument. This work is in bronze and is positioned on a pedestal to which Blazin added two bas-reliefs. One recalls Bourhis' 1913 flight over the Bannalec church tower and the other his role as parachutist. On the monument is inscribed


Collège Louise-Michel in Paris

Bazin executed this bas-relief in 1936 for the front of the college.


Mascots for automobile bonnets

Bazin created many mascots for car bonnets ("les bouchons de radiateur") such as "Triomphe" shown here. His "Femme Mangbetu" featured on Citroën's car competing in the "Croisière Noire" in 1924. He often worked with Louis Lejeune Ltd. His car mascots include "Cigogne" for the Hispano Suiza, "Tête de Femme Mangbetu" for Citroën, "Triomphe" for the Isotta Fraschini, "Tête d'éléphant" for the Latil, "Centaure" for the Unic and "Licorne" for the Licorne.


Medals

Bazin was an accomplished medallist and his work for
Monnaie de Paris The (, ''Paris Mint (coin), Mint'') is a government-owned institution responsible for producing France, France's coins. Founded in AD 864 by King Charles the Bald with the Edict of Pistres, it is the oldest continuously running minting instituti ...
includes medals for the
Quimper Quimper (, ; ; or ) is a Communes of France, commune and Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Finistère Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. Administration Quimper is the ...
Chambre de Commerce. the Caisse Epargne in Quimper, the Brest Chambre de Commerce, the centenary of the Caisse Epargne of
Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...
, the Caisse Epargne at
Quimperlé Quimperlé (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Finistère Departments of France, department, region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern France. Geography Quimperlé is in the southeast of Finistère, 20 km t ...
, the ocean liner "Pasteur" and the city of
Tananarive Antananarivo (Malagasy language, Malagasy: ; French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bazin, Francois 1897 births 1956 deaths 20th-century French sculptors 20th-century French male artists French male sculptors