Georges Vérez

Georges Armand Vérez was born in Lille on 1 August 1877 and died on 17 January 1932. He was a pupil of Louis-Ernest Barrias and Jules Coutan. In 1905 he was runner-up for the annual Prix de Rome. After the end of the 1914-1918 war he was mostly involved executing sculptural work on war memorials.

War memorials

The war memorial of Lisieux

This war memorial honours not only the dead of Lisieux but also the neighbouring communes of Saint-Jacques and Saint-Désir. Vérez was responsible for the sculptural work involved.^[1]

The war memorial at Criel

The inauguration of this war memorial took place on 17 October 1926. Vérez's sculpture is carved from limestone and the theme of his composition is "La Paix".^{[2] [3]}

The war memorial at Cambrai

Cambrai war memorial. Vérez depicts several soldiers advancing alongside a tank, all seemingly protected by the angel of victory's wing

In his composition Vérez has an angel of victory who has by her side several soldiers and a tank. The memorial was erected in 1924, at the entrance to the public garden at the end of the rue Porte Robert. Cambrai was the location of one of the first uses of the tank in the 1914-1918 war.

A public subscription was opened to raise funds to finance the building of the memorial and after a competition was organised to select the best proposal, the architects Lamonnier and Halley were chosen on 31 December 1923. Lamonnier and Halley had a good track record having designed the war memorials at Chamonix, Sangatte and Malo-les-Bains. Their preferred sculptor was Georges Vérez who had already carried out sculptural work on the Cambrai Town Hall.^{[4] [5]}

The war memorial of Pau

Vérez's composition for the Pau war memorial is entitled "France victorieuse". This was executed in 1927.

^[6] The Pau memorial stands in front of the Saint Martin church.

Pau war memorial

Le Monument aux morts de Ris-Orangis

This war memorial dates to 1921. Carved from limestone, Vérez's composition shows a helmeted "Angel of Victory" holding out branches of laurel. ^[7]

Monument in Ris-Orangis cemetery

Vérez also carried out the sculptural work on a monument in Ris-Orangis' cemetery. This work was carried out in 1922.

This limestone monument was it seems offered to the commune by an American couple, the Johnstone-Reckitts. They had founded a nearby military hospital. The monument takes the form of a mausoleum and at one end Vérez has carved a soldier. ^[8]

Le Monument aux morts de Croissy-sur-Seine

When the local authority decided to arrange a competition to decide who should be asked to erect the war memorial to commemorate the 145 men of Croissy-sur-Seine who lost their lives in the 1914-1918 war, 27 architects submitted offers and Albert Le Monnier was finally awarded the contract. Work commenced in June 1921 and Georges Vérez carried out the sculptural work involved. The inauguration took place on 1 November 1921. ^[9]

The war memorial at Omiécourt in the Somme

Vérez completed the sculptural work for this war memorial. ^[10]

The war memorial of Granville

The Granville in the Manche war memorial features a representation of a soldier worked in bronze by Vérez.  The memorial was erected in 1922. Verez' soldier is very similar to that executed for the Chamonix memorial in Haute-Savoie ^[11]

The war memorial of Pantin

This memorial was completed in 1922. As was the case with Criel, Vérez's limestone carving was of a woman representing "La Paix". ^[12]

The war memorial of Orsay in Essonne

The founders Val d'Osne used Vérez to create some of the bronze sculptures which they marketed throughout France. Orsay's memorial features the French soldier which was listed in the Val-d'Osne catalogue under reference number 893 and entitled "Poilu". The Orsay memorial was inaugurated 9 November 1924. It seems that the foundry produced less than 10 copies of the work so it did not prove popular and, perhaps significantly, did not appear in the first editions of the Val-d'Osne commemorative catalogue. ^[13]

The war memorial of Brandeville in Meuse

Another Val-d'Osne catalogued work by Vérez was called the "Victoire ailée" (879 in the catalogue). It was based on an original Vérez carving for the Bonneville war memorial in Haute-Savoie. As with the Val-d'Osne work used at Orsay it did not prove a success. Inauguration of the Brandeville memorial took place on 4 October 1925. ^[14]

The war memorial of Belfort

Belfort War Memorial. An enormous winged goddess stands above a group of soldiers.

In 1922 the committee formed to organise the building of a war memorial awarded the contract to Albert Le Monnier and Georges Vérez. The memorial was to be made from local stone; the white stone of Lorraine and the rose coloured granite of the Vosges. ^{[15] [16] [17]}

Other works

Four large sculptured groups for the Grand Foyer of Lille Opera House

Vérez carved four sculptures for the foyer.  ^[18]

Le Pardon

This work was exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1909. The work is now located in place Vanhoenacker in Liile. See photograph below.^[19]

Le Pardon

La Charité

This work was exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1909. ^[20]

Sculptural work for Cambrai Theatre

Work was completed 1929, Vérez's sculpture being on the inside of the theatre. ^[21]

References