This article is a list of public sculptures designed by Maxime Real del Sarte.
War Memorials using the composition entitled "Je t'ai cherché"
The plaster model entitled "Je t'ai cherché" was first exhibited in 1920 at the Salon des Artistes Français under reference number 3396, and the composition was used by Real del Sarte for five war memorials. These are listed below.
"Je t'ai cherché" translates as "I looked/searched for you". Sarte works the compositions beautifully and there are connotations of Mary covering Jesus' body with a shroud or winding sheet.
Name of sculpture Location of sculpture Date work executed NotesThe war memorial at Ressons-sur-Matz in the OiseRessons-sur-Matz1924Those responsible for the Ressons-sur-Matz war memorial and also for the war memorials at Cérisy-la-Salle in Manche, Saint-Chély-d'Apcher in Lozère, Sare in Pyrénées-Atlantiques, and that at Le Tréport in Seine-Maritime all chose the "Je t'ai cherché" piece as the central feature of their memorials. In Sarte's composition a grieving woman leans over the body of a soldier as she wraps it in a "linceul" (shroud or winding sheet. In French suaire ou drap mortuaire)Linceul Retrieved 8 November 2013.) over him. The woman could be the soldier's wife, his mother or his sister who has been searching for, and now found, the corpse of a loved one and in covering him with a shroud, Sartre, a devout catholic, reminds us of the action of Mary and her covering the body of Christ with a shroud. The woman represents the French Republic in mourning. It was said that the soldier's likeness was based on that of Charles Eudes, one of Maxime Real del Sarte's comrades at the front. Real del Sarte was recommended for the Ressons-sur-Matz war memorial by the writer Binet-Valmer who had taken part in the liberation of the village in 1918. The war memorial at Ressons-sur-Matz was completed in 1924, with the inauguration taking place on 6 April of that year. The war memorial at Cérisy-la-Salle in the MancheCérisy-la-SalleAs stated above, the Ressons-sur-Matz composition was used for the Cérisy-la-Salle war memorial which stands in front of the Cérisy-la-Salle parish church, the Église Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul at 1, rue des Ecoles. It remembers the 105 men of the parish who died in the 1914-1918 warThe war memorial at Saint-Chély-d'Apcher in LozèreSaint-Chély-d'ApcherAgain Sarte's ""je t'ai cherché"" composition is used, this time for the Saint-Chély-d'Apcher war memorial in Lozère. The memorial stands in the Place du Foirail The memorial was inaugurated on 24 September 1922The war memorial at Sare in the Pyrénées-AtlantiquesSareAgain the ""je t'ai cherché"" composition is used. The memorial stands by the church of Saint Martin in Sare and remembers the 41 men of Sare who gave their lives in the two World Wars.The Le Tréport war memorialLe TréportThe fifth memorial to use the ""je t'ai cherché"" composition is at Le Tréport in Seine-et-Maritime
War memorials using the composition "Terre de France"
Name of sculpture Location of sculpture Date work executed NotesThe war memorial in Sceaux in Hauts-de-SeineSceauxThe Sceaux war memorial involves a Real del Sarte composition called "Terre de France". This work was first shown at the 1919 exhibition of the Société des Artistes Français. It was in plaster and was shown under reference 1211. Then at the 1920 exhibition a limestone version was shown, this under catalogue number 3395. It was this limestone work that was used for the Saint-Jean-de-Luz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) war memorial (see later entry). When the Sceaux municipality organised a competition for the design of their war memorial in April 1920, the participating artists were limited to those living in Sceaux but no suitable candidates came forward and in June 1920, the organising committee put forward the idea of using the "Terre de France" work seen at the Salon. Their recommendation was accepted but for their "Terre de France" to be cast in bronze. There is incidentally a third version of this composition in existence and that is for the war memorial in Stavelot in Belgium, there the figure being cast in bronze and on a limestone base.The war memorial in Saint-Jean-de-Luz in Pyrénées-AtlantiquesSaint-Jean-de-LuzAs stated above, the memorial here is the limestone version of "Terre de France". It was to Saint-Jean-de-Luz that Real del Sarte retired and where he died. He was to create a beautiful "Stations of the Cross" for the parish church there. See later entry.The war memorial in Stavelot in BelgiumStavelotPart of this memorial is the composition "Terre de France"
Other war memorials
Name of sculpture Location of sculpture Date work executed NotesThe war memorial in Laventie in Pas-de-CalaisLaventieThis memorial is located in front of Laventie's parish church. In Real del Sarte's composition a woman holds a dying soldier in her arms. The woman represents France.The war memorial at Sommières-du-Clain in VienneSommières-du-ClainOn one side the memorial lists the names of those remembered and on the other side there is a bas-relief by Real del Sarte. The theme of Sarte's composition was suggested by a member of the Vareilles-Sommières family. It shows a haloed Joan of Arc, wearing a breast plate and a tunic embroidered with the fleur de lys. She wears a sword in her sword belt and holds a crown of laurel leaves in her right hand. She is comforting a dying soldier who is wrapped in a flag. Joan points with her other hand to the sky and to heaven and is perhaps telling the soldier that he will soon be in heaven. Strasbourg Cathedral figures in the right hand corner of the relief. The war memorial at Briey in Meurthe-et-Moselle uses the same relief but this was in bronze. That at Sommières-du-Clain is in limestone.Sommières-du-Clain War Memorial. In French, Retrieved 13 November 2013War memorial at Jemappes in AlgeriaJemappesThe Rouen War MemorialRouenThis enormous monument, known as "Le Monument de la Victoire" was first erected in the place Foch in Rouen but was moved to the place Carnot when the metro station "Palais de Justice" was constructed. The monument comprises a tall column surmounted by the winged Angel of Victory. On one side of the base of the column, Real del Sarte carves a representation of Joan of Arc whose arms are spread to protect a widow and an orphan and on another side, two soldiers stand guard. The face of the soldier on the left was a likeness of Charles Maurras the leader of the right wing movement "Action Française" of which Real del Sarte was an active member. At the time the monument was erected Joan of Arc had just been canonized and Action Française were a major force in French politics. Controversy has stalked the memorial and during one political demonstration which took place around it, Maurras' head was knocked off. There are also bas-reliefs at the base of the monument which celebrates the refuge given by Normandy to refugees from Belgium during the 1914-1918 war.Monument aux morts des ForainsRouenThis monument is also located in Rouen and is dedicated to all those French market traders who laid down their lives in the 1914-1918 war. A committee was set up to organise the monument's erection. The committee tried to get the mayors of Paris and Neuilly to permit this monument to be erected in their areas and it was finally Rouen which was chosen by the committee, this because of the importance of Rouen's yearly fair of St Romain, this one of France's largest markets. This would allow the market traders to hold a reunion when that market was held from end of October to the middle of November. On 27 November 1930, Rouen agreed to the monument's erection and it was erected in the place de Boulingrin. Maxime Real del Sarte was chosen as the sculptor. Four columns form a horse shoe shaped backdrop and in the centre are two lions pulling a chariot ridden by a winged angel who holds a crown of laurel in her right arm whilst she comforts a dying soldier with her left arm. During a bombing raid on Rouen on 17 August 1942, a bomb damaged the lions but they were subsequently restored.The Monument Marie-Louise et des Bleuets at the Ferme de HurtebriseFerme de HurtebriseThe "Ferme d'Hurtebise" is situated in Bouconville-Vauclair on the Chemin des Dames near to Craonne. It was here that the Battle of Craonne took place on 7 March 1814 when Napoleon's army fought the combined armies of Russia and Prussia and 100 years later the same location saw bitter fighting between France and Germany, as part of the struggle to take or hold the Chemin des Dames ridge which took place throughout the 1914-1918 war and was to cost so many lives. It had been in March 1914 that a monument had been erected facing the farm in memory of the Battle of Craonne, this on the occasion of the battle's 100th anniversary. It comprised an obelisk surmounted by a star and was called the "memorial of Marie-Louise and the Grognards", this in reference to the young conscripts of Napoleon's army known as the " Marie-Louse" and the soldiers of the old guard known as "Grognards". This monument was destroyed in September 1914 in the course of the early battles of the 1914-1918 war. The Hurtebrise site was of great strategic importance because of its height and the views it enjoyed of the surrounding area and the German army dug in there in the autumn of 1914. Thereafter there was frequent fighting to take or hold on to the area, but Hurtebrise, lying between the Caverne du dragon and the Plateau de Californie stayed for the most part in German hands until 1918. In 1927 a second monument was erected on the site of that destroyed in 1914. This was called the "monument of Marie-Louise et des Bleuets" and Real del Sarte now created two figures in bronze, one a soldier in the uniform of 1814 and another a poilu of 1914–1918. They stand on either side of a furled flag and both hold crowns of laurel which they reach up to place at the top of the flagpole. The monument was inaugurated on 30 October 1927.The war memorial of Ascain in Pyrénées-AtlantiquesAscain1924This war memorial dates to 1924 and features a sculpture by Real del Sarte. The memorial remembers the 61 Ascain men who laid down their lives in the two World Wars. In Real del Sarte's composition a man stands in front of a grave and a young woman kneels at his side. A helmet hangs from the cross marking the grave. As is often the case, Sarte adds sheaves of corn to suggest regeneration to counterbalance the great feeling of loss which the central image engenders. To add a touch of local colour, Sarte's man wears the high-waisted shirt of the Basque country.The war memorial at GuétharyGuétharyReal del Sarte's bronze sits on a large rectangular pedestal. The composition involves a dying soldier being supported by a winged Angel of Victory.The war memorial in Mulhouse in Haut-Rhin AlsaceMulhouseThe Mulhouse War Memorial consists of an obelisk which stands in the avenue du Président Roosevelt, and was inaugurated in 1927. In front on the obelisk is a standing figure which was carved by Real del Sarte. It was partially destroyed in 1942 but was restored in 1954. The griffons which formed part of the original memorial were moved to the local zoo. The original sculptural work on the memorial was by Real del Sarte and in the restoration François Cacheux replaced Real del Sarte's work that had been destroyed.Mulhouse War Memorial. Genweb a French Government sponsored website. In French. Retrieved 8 November 2013 Old photograph prior to 1942 damage . Dragons can be seen clearly. In French. Retrieved 8 November 2013.