Élie Le Goff

Élie Le Goff père
Born	1858
Died	1938
Nationality	French
Occupation	Sculptor

Élie Le Goff was a French sculptor born in 1858 and who died in 1938. He was the father of Paul, Élie junior and Henri who were all artists and sculptors. Sadly all three sons lost their lives in the 1914-1918 war. This article gives details of most of Élie Le Goff senior's work and also works by Paul Le Goff. Paul Le Goff was born in Saint-Brieuc on 1 April 1883 and died in 1915, Élie junior was born in 1881 and Henri was born in 1887.^[1]

Main works

It has been written that Le Goff was commissioned to provide sculptural decoration for the Saint Brieuc post office building and produced a sculpture called "L'enfant rieur" but no record to support this can be traced. The following are works attributed to him.

La Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Fontaine

Élie Le Goff was responsible for the sculptures of Saint Brieuc and Saint Tugdual in this Saint Brieuc church. ^[2]

Bust of Charles Baratoux

This Élie Le Goff sculpture can be seen in Saint-Brieuc's Place Baratoux and depicts the ex-mayor Baratoux. This replaced a Jean Boucher sculpture which has been confiscated in1942 and the bronze melted down for re-use.^[3]

Statue of Joan of Arc

This statue, carved from wood, stands in Guingamp's Rue Notre-Dame by the Basilique Notre-Dame de Bon Secours and is a work by Élie Le Goff based on Princess Marie d' Orléans' model of Joan called "Prière avant le combat ('The Prayer before the Battle'). Joan is depicted in a suit of armour and carrying a sword. She is flanked by statues of Saint Catherine and Saint Marguerite. The statue stands on a column with relief panels in wood below it by Le Goff

1. "Jeanne d'arc ecoutant ses voix" - Jeanne d'Arc listening to her voices

2." Le sacre de charles vii - Coronation of Charles VII in Reims

3. "Entree triumphale a Orleans" - Triumphal entry in Orléans

4. "Supplice de jeanne d'arc" - Execution of Jeanne d'Arc

5. Apotheose

Princesse Marie d'Orléans was an accomplished sculptor and in 1838 executed a statue of Jeanne d'Arc and it is this that Le Goff used as a model for his sculpture.^[4]

Auguste de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam

Also in Saint-Brieuc's Parc des Promenades is a marble bust by Élie Le Goff of Auguste de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, the French symbolist writer. The work was completed in 1914.^[5]

The tomb of the three brothers

Paul Le Goff and his two brothers were all killed in the 1914-1918 war and they are buried in the Saint-Michel cemetery in Saint-Brieuc. Élie carried out the decoration of the tomb which comprised a bronze medallion depicting the three sons and a sculpture depicting five mourners in procession. The plaster version of this work entitled "Funérailles bretonnes" was a work by Paul and depicts the porch of a chapel from which three generations of Breton women wearing mourning clothes are emerging. The Saint-Michel cemetery is located in Saint-Brieuc's Rue Jobert de Lamballe. Élie Le Goff junior was killed in Boezinge in Belgium in 1915 as was Paul Le Goff whilst Henri Le Goff was killed in 1918 at Monthairon Le Petit in Meuse. The bronze medallion depicts the three brothers from left to right Élie, Paul, and Henri. Below them a palm branch with text "in memorial". Below the medallion is a granite relief by Élie Le Goff this based on a plaster work by his son Paul. The inscription reads

"Á La Mémoire Des Trois Frères LE GOFF morts pour la France 1914 — 1918 Signed: E. Le Goff"

^[6][7]

War Memorials

Belz War Memorial

The sculpture involved here, called "Poilu aux lauriers" and depicting a standing serviceman, is one of a series produced by Elie Le Goff and seen in many communes in Brittany, the only variation being that in some cases the serviceman wears a helmet and in others the beret worn by the marines. Some of the other memorials are at Brech and Etel in Morbihan and Merdrignac and Plémet in Côtes-d'Armor. This memorial dates to 1925. In most cases the work has been cast in bronze although that in Plélan-le-Grand was executed using kersantite. Another work produced as a series was that entitled "Le coq".^[8][9]

Plérin War Memorial

This communes' 1919 war memorial has one of the bronze Elie Le Goff cockerels mentioned above.^[10]

Quessoy War Memorial

The Quessoy memorial lists the names of 155 soldiers killed in the 1914-1918 war of which 8 were killed early in the war in the 1914 "Race to the sea" and 2 in the Balkans fighting with the "Armée française d'Orient". Another 10 names added subsequently are those killed in the 1939-1945 war and one victim of the Indochinese conflict is also added.^[11][12][13]

Quintin War Memorial

The memorial stands in the Rue aux Toiles and remembers the men of Quintin who were killed in the 1914-1918 war. Élie Le Goff carried out the sculptural work involved. The memorial takes the form of a menhir with a relief carving of the head of a helmeted soldier cut into the granite. In front of the menhir Le Goff puts a mother with her child the woman appearing to be telling the boy who the soldier was. On the back of the menhir is the Quintin coat of arms.^{[14] [15]}

Lamballe War Memorial

The sculptural work on this memorial is attributed to the Le Goff brothers and features an officer with a sword in his hand protecting a dying young soldier. The names of the 168 men killed in the 1914-1918 war are listed as well as those of 11 men who gave their lives in the 1870 war.Subsequently a further 32 names were added, victims of the 1939-1945 war, and 6 names of men killed in Indochina and Algeria.^{[16] [17]}

Lanvollon War Memorial

This 1922 granite memorial in the Place du Général de Gaulle has Élie Le Goff's depiction of Joan of Arc with a bas-relief below depicting the head of a soldier in profile.^[18]

Belle-Motte Military Cemetery in Aiseau-Presles

This military cemetery in Belgium a plaque in bronze by Edouard Cognioul and Le Goff. It was unveiled in 1927 and reads

"Ils morts pour nous tous ; Vive la Belgique, vive la France ; 1914"

^[19]

Funerary sculpture

"Wernert" tomb

In Saint-Brieuc's Cimetière Saint-Michel in the Rue Jobert de Lamballe, Élie Le Goff executed a bronze portrait medallion for the Wernert-Le Restif family.^[20]

The tomb of Pierre Giffard

Also in the Cimetière Saint-Michel is the tomb of Pierre Giffard which dates to 1915 and has a bronze portrait medallion by Élie Le Goff.^[21]

The tomb of Alexandre Nouet

This bronze portrait medallion dates to 1911.^[22]

Works by Paul Le Goff

"La forme se dégageant de la matière"

This work can be seen in Saint-Brieuc's Parc des Promenades and it was sculpted by Paul Le Goff in 1914. The title translates as "The shape emerging from matter" and this was the set subject for the Beaux-Arts de Paris competition for the Prix de Rome. Le Goff came fourth but in 1912 he won the "grand prix Roux" with the work "La Synthèse de l'hiver". He also submitted the work "La forme se dégageant de la matière" to the Paris salon and it was awarded the third place medal. It was purchased by the French State to be placed in the jardin du Luxembourg but then given to Saint-Brieuc.^[23][24][25]

Monument to Paul Le Goff

In Saint-Brieuc's parc des Promenades there is a monument dedicated to Le Goff by Jules-Charles Le Bozec. The inauguration took place on 29 May 1938

References