Edgar Boutry (1857-1938) was a French sculptor. He was born in Lille and won the prestigious Rome prize in 1887 having been runner up in 1885. In Lille one can see four of Boutry’s works: The monument aux morts which stands in front of the Palais Rihour, the monument remembering the victims of the explosion at the “18 ponts” munition depot, and the statues of Léon Trulin and Jeanne Maillotte. There is also a statue of Maréchal Foch by Boutry in the square Foch in Lille. Boutry also worked on the equestrian statue of Foch in Cassel.
Boutry was a pupil of Albert Darcq at the Écoles académiques lilloises and then studied in Paris under Jules Cavelier. He eventually took over from Albert Darcq in running the Écoles académiques lilloises.
The Lille authorities had decided to erect a war memorials (monument aux morts) by the site of the old Palais Rihour in 1924 and organised a competition to select the architect and sculptor and on the 27th December 1924 a submission entitled “Melancholia” was chosen, this a submission by the architect Jacques Alleman and Boutry. The original Alleman/Boutry proposals were subjected to several changes and eventually it was decided that three relief panels were to be included with scenes representing Peace,the freeing of Lille and the taking of hostages. The dedication reads-" Aux Lillois, soldats et civils, la cité a élevé ce monument afin de rappeler au cours des siècles l’héroïsme et les souffrances de ses enfants morts pour la Paix ".
Two other war memorial upon which Boutry worked were that at Annappes and Armentieres. The Annappes monument was inaugurated on the 12th September 1920. Armentieres had suffered much damage in the 1914-1918 war with 3,000 houses destroyed, 2,600 damaged,factories in ruins, 400 civilians killed, 1,70 wounded and 1,160 men from Armentiers killed in battle The monument aux morts was erected in 1925 near the town hall. The monument was designed by Louis-Marie Cordonnier with sculptural work by Boutry.
Other works by Boutry:-
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