André Abbal
André Abbal was a French sculptor. He was commissioned to work on several war memorials. He is best known as a pioneer of "Direct carving" and became known as "L'Apôtre de la Taille Directe".
Biography
Born in Montech in the Tarn-et-Garonne department, the son and grandson of stonemasons, Abbal's parents were Léon Armand Abbal, who practiced as a sculptor, and Jeanne Cousteau. His paternal grandfather was Jacques Abbal, who worked with Violet-le-Duc restoring religious monuments. Abbal studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Toulouse, then the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris where he was taught by Alexandre Falguière and Antonin Mercié. He was a frequent exhibitor at the Salon des Artistes Français, won the Chenavard prize twice, and was awarded two gold medals.Abbal was an advocate of "Direct carving". In 1913 he first submitted a work which had been carved directly into stone, without the convention of starting with a model. This piece was called "Le Génie luttant" and it caused something of a controversy with his fellow sculptors, some being for the technique and others against it.
He tended to avoid the Parisien scene and after his marriage in 1921 he moved to Carbonne. Outside of the Paris Salon he exhibited little of his work. It was in 1937 that he exhibited three compositions at the International Fair in Paris- "La Moissoneuse" was shown at the Palais de Tokyo, the future Musée d'art Moderne, "Le Labour" was entered for the "Pavillon Languedoc-Roussillon", and "La Sculpture", a bas-relief was put at the front of the Palais de Chaillot. In the same year his work was shown at two of the year's most important exhibitions, and his work was shown alongside artists such as Bonnard, Duffy, Modigliani, Picasso and Rodin. After reaching the age of 61 he worked only in Carbonne but continued to receive commissions including "Le Centaure" and "La Femme sur Le boeuf". There is a museum in Carbonne dedicated to Abbal. It contains many sculptures and Abbal drawings, They have an excellent website.
Main works
Abbal's work included the following:-"La Vendangeuse"
This work is in white limestone and in his composition Abbal depicts a young woman carries an infant on her shoulder and holding a basket of the fruit of the Vendange. The work is located in Carbonne."Cariatide"
This is another composition in white limestone and located in Carbonne in the garden of the Musée Abbal."Milan sur un Rocher"
This terra cotta work executed in 1935 is held in the collection of the Mont-de-Marsan museum."Tête d'Enfant"
This terra cotta piece is also held in the Mont-de-Marsan museum.Decoration to a building
In 1928 Abbal executed a sculptural decoration to the building at 51-55 rue Raynouard; 38 rue Berton in Paris.It was in this building that Auguste Perret lived.
"Moissonneuse"
This limestone sculpture depictis a woman carrying a bale of wheat. The work is dated 1937 and stands in the garden of the Abbal museum in Carbonne. This was the work exhibited at the 1937 "Exposition internationale des arts et techniques" in Paris.War memorials
The war memorial of [Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave]
Abbal's composition shows a soldier in the trenches. He is sleeping and is dreaming of home and above his head we see what the soldier might well have been seeing in that dream; people at work on the farm. This war memorial was inaugurated in 1923.The war memorial of [Lafrançaise]
This war memorial stands in Lafrançaise's allée du Combattant. A woman, an allegory of France, carries what appears to be an eagle's body and a German army helmet on her shoulders. A dying soldier is carved on the side of the memorial's base.The memorial has the inscriptions-"LA SOMME, LA MEUSE, VERDUN, L'ARTOIS, AUX ENFANTS DE LA FRANÇAISE, MORTS POUR LA PATRIE."