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Libert & Associés

164 - GEORGE DESVALLIÈRES (Paris 1861-1950 Paris). The Ascension, …
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Estimate €2,000 - €3,000
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Description
GEORGE DESVALLIÈRES (Paris 1861-1950 Paris). The Ascension, The Apostles Watercolour, gouache and oil on paper pasted on cardboard, laid to square Signed and dated lower right: "George Desvallières / 1926". Height 57.8 cm - Width 42.9 cm The Apostles is a preparatory drawing by George Desvallières for one of the monumental canvases (549 x 366 cm) in the Ascension cycle that decorates the ceiling of the nave of the Church of St John the Baptist in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in the United States. It is located at the entrance to the church. The apostles raise their arms to heaven, symbolising the Church militant in raising its aspirations to the Lord. The apostles are depicted with their arms outstretched towards heaven and their faces tilted back, giving the impression of being literally caught up in the heavenly light that is carrying Christ away. This sketch is part of a series that we are selling, of three monumental canvases painted in 1926, illustrating the mystery of the Ascension for the Church of St John the Baptist in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in the United States. At the time this décor was created, George Desvallières was an artist in his sixties, at the height of his artistic and institutional fame. He had established himself as the great renovator of modern Christian art. Deeply affected by his experience of the First World War and the death of his son in battle, Desvallières vowed to devote his painting entirely to God. He definitively abandoned the secular and mythological subjects of his early works in favour of monumental religious works. In 1919, he co-founded the Ateliers d'art sacré with his friend Maurice Denis. In 1926, he became co-director, playing the role of leader and teacher for a whole new generation of young Christian artists committed to the revival of religious art. The Pawtucket project was part of a decade of intense monumental production. He had just completed the tragic and memorial cycle of the chapel of Saint-Privat in the Gard (1919-1925) and was preparing, in 1927, to design the stained glass windows for the Douaumont ossuary. This American project was entrusted to him by the parish priest Alphonse Graton and the Quebec architect Ernest Cormier, and was intended for a parish made up largely of French-Canadian exiles. Unlike the decor for the chapel at Saint-Privat, this decor is distinguished by its majestic, bright and joyful atmosphere. The artist used luminous colours to express divine glory and serenity, without any reference to the horrors of combat. The main iconographic programme consists of four large painted caissons fixed to the ceiling of the church. The sketches we are presenting are preparatory to three of these monumental canvases (almost 5 x 4 m), which illustrate the mystery of the Ascension: The Apostles, Christ the Mediator and God the Father. In the American Church, they are hung in succession from the entrance to the nave to the choir, followed by a fourth caisson, suspended directly above the altar, depicting the Triumph of the Eucharist. These very large canvases were painted in France by Desvallières before being rolled across the Atlantic to be mounted locally. He managed to complete these monumental canvases in just four months of hard work, which the critics of the time hailed as a record for a man his age. When they were exhibited at the Salon d'Automne in Paris in 1926, the critics were unanimous in their praise. This programme was completed in 1928 with an Annunciation to decorate the wedding chapel. The studies we are presenting are unpublished and add to those described in Catherine Ambroselli de Bayser's catalogue raisonné (Ambroselli, Hornus, Lequeu, George Desvallières : catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre complet, Paris, Somogy, 2015, p. 468-475, CR 1819-1832). We would like to thank Catherine Ambroselli de Bayser and Priscilla Hornus who will be adding these drawings to the catalogue raisonné of the complete works of George Desvallières.
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About the sale TREASURES & HERITAGE
Auction location
Auction time 06/24/2026 at 11:00 AM
Ref. : 01201 - 39
Lot description modified on 06/10/2026 at 11:03 AM
Pictures credits:
Henri du Cray
See original version (French)
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