Oil on cardboard – 9,5 x 13 inch – Unique work

They are eight. Eight female statues seated on Gabriel’s sentry boxes all around the Place de la Concorde. They represent eight French cities: Brest, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Rouen and Strasbourg.

I chose Rouen…

First of all, a brief presentation of the city. From the 13th century, the city experienced an economic boom thanks to the development of textile factories. It was claimed by both the French and the English during the Hundred Years War. Joan of Arc was imprisoned there, judged and then burned alive in 1431. Very damaged by Red Week in 1944, it regained its grandeur thanks to its seaport, among other things. It is the leading French grain port and the leading European grain exporting port.

Rouen is also and above all a city “invaded” with historical monuments, museums, half-timbered houses, pedestrian streets, cycle paths, green spaces, religious buildings (hence its nickname the “city to the hundred steeples”).

And then, a little personal delirium with a story straight from my brain. This is the story of a very young and very beautiful woman named Diane. She comes to spend her holidays in Rouen. Completely by chance. We are in the 19th century. She meets a man, an artist, completely dazzled by her beauty. He, then, decides to immortalize their meeting, their adventure, their budding love. He, then, embarks on the creation of a statue.

And not just any statue. A statue that would be one of a kind or not quite. A statue that would have all its legitimacy on the Place de la Concorde in Paris. The ambition of a lifetime, of his entire life.

Diane, meanwhile, is flattered. Admittedly a little nervous but she is literally driven by this crazy project. She strikes a pose, thinks of something else. Long weeks follow one another, successes, failures. The life of an artist is not easy every day! And then it’s over…

All three go to the capital: he, his muse and his statue. He carefully chooses the location, in fact exclusively selfish… So, he puts down his art. He is so proud of his work. Diane, at his side, is very moved and yet a huge disappointment invades her. Her statue turns her back on the great iron lady…