André Longeon, Liberty, Circa 1950 - Plaster Bas-relief

André LONGEON (1926-2010)
Liberty, circa 1960
Plaster bas-relief with wall mount
H: 82 cm; W: 36 cm
Provenance: Sale of the ANDRÉ LONGEON studio, April 27, 2024, Hôtel des ventes du Marais (Saint-Étienne)

Son of the Saint-Étienne sculptor Marius Longeon, André Longeon attended evening classes at the Saint-Étienne Regional School of Fine Arts from a very young age. Immediately after the Liberation in 1945, at the age of 18, he went to Paris and was admitted, like his father before him, to the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs (National School of Decorative Arts). He won the Jacquot Prize (prize for modeled composition) and fulfilled his first commissions, notably busts.
He then entered the École des monuments historiques (School of Historical Monuments) at the Palais de Chaillot. He worked at Notre-Dame and especially at the Château de Vincennes, which suffered considerable damage during the Liberation.

In the mid-1950s, he joined the family business in Saint-Étienne, participating in numerous restoration and decoration projects, including the Prefecture and the City Hall. But it was sculpture that occupied the majority of his artistic activity.
An extremely prolific artist, André Longeon completed numerous commissions throughout France, from Bobigny to Sainte-Baume, from Tartaras to Notre-Dame de la Garde: busts of prominent figures, depictions of liberty and love, allegories, Madonnas for churches, medals, mourning figures for tombs, reliefs for private buildings, and fountains.

In Saint-Étienne, his most famous work is the bronze monument to Jean Moulin, representing the Resistance fighter with his iconic hat and scarf.
He died in 1910 at the age of 87, and his studio collection was dispersed in 2024.