Claude Grange

Every year the Ếcole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts organized a competition for the Prix de Rome and set a subject for the students to work on. "Électre veillant sur le sommeil d’Oreste" was the subject for the 1911 competition and Grange was the runner up. The prize was won by Lucienne Heuvelmans. Grange's submission is held by the Musée de Vienne. [1][2]

Grange was awarded second prize in the Prix de Rome of 1912 for this work.[3]

This was Grange's submission which won him the Prix de Rome in 1913. This entitled him to study in Rome at the villa Médicis.[4]

In 1914, Grange was awarded the bronze medal of the Société des Artistes Français for this composition. [5][6]

Statue of St Colomba in Luxeuil-les-Bains

Monument to Hector Berlioz

Grange's sculpture of the Irish monk and missionary stands in front of the Saint-Pierre Basilica in Luxeuil-les-Bains.[7]

Bust executed in 1924 and held in Poitiers' musée Sainte-Croix. [8]

This bronze bust dates to 1922 and is located in Poitiers's musée Sainte-Croix. [9]

The original 1903 Berlioz bronze had been requisitioned by the Germans and melted down for re-use of the metal and the replacement was erected in 1953 on the same spot in the Place Victor Hugo. Grange had presented a plaster copy to the 1933 salon and this is held by the Musée Hector-Berlioz in La Côte-Saint-André. [10]

This bust can be seen in the Museum of Grenoble. [11]

Grange carried out the following:-

1. A bronze medallion on the grave of Jules Buisson the composer.

2. A medallion on the grave of the painter Henry Jacquier.

3. A bronze bust on the grave of Tony Zacharie the painter and member of the "École de Vienne".[12]

View of reliefs at Mont-Valérien

Grange executed one of the many reliefs for the Mémorial de la France combattante. His relief, named "FAFL", commemorates the forces of the Free French Airforce.

This memorial is to be found in a public park in the place du Général-Leclerc. The park was created in 1856 by the Swiss landscape gardeners Denis and Eugène Bühler and the war memorial was designed by Tony Garnier. The memorial comprises a haunting sculpture by Jean Larrivé depicting several figures carrying a shrouded coffin with, on either side, bas-reliefs by Louis Bertola and Grange. The memorial, which stands on the île du Souvenir was constructed between 1924 and 1930. Grange's relief featured a horse and a female allegory of victory. [13] [14]

This limestone memorial was erected in 1922. [15]

Extended to cover the dead of all conflicts in which France was involved since 1914, the memorial now carries more than 1,400 names. The memorial stands in the gardens of the Château de Commercy. [16]

For this memorial Grange sculpted a female allegory for France standing with outstretched arms. On the memorial's base he added bas-reliefs depicting soldiers and scenes from the war.[17]

Inaugurated on 1 November 1928, the monument depicts a line of five soldiers representing the different sections of the armed forces. From left to right we have a cavalryman with his sabre, a territorial ready for any work thrown at him even helping maintain the "Voie sacrée". In the centre is a young infantryman, determined and with fists clenched he is the hero of the battlefields and the victor at Verdun. Then we have the old colonial soldier with his distinct moustache and finally an artilleryman.

A sign next to the monument gives the following information

"ce monument oeuvre de Forest, Architecte,et de Grange, Sculpteur, Symbolise la célèbre devise de Verdun 1916 on ne passe pas cinq soldats de différentes armes au coude à coude, forment un mur contre lequel est venu se briser l'assaut de l'ennemi. Ce monument a été erigé à la mémoire des Enfants de Verdun morts pour la France"

Now the monument bears not only the names of the 518 casualties of the Great War but both military and civilian victims of the Second World War, including deportees and resistance fighters and those who lost their lives in Algeria and overseas.[18]

The inauguration of this memorial took place on 11 November 1923. [19] [20]

The monument, designed by the architect Mathieu Forest, is located in Craonnelle and is also known as the Memorial to the French 36th Infantry Division. It was erected in 1928. The 36th Infantry Division, notably the Infantry Regiment of Pau, the 34th Infantry Regiment of Mont-de-Marsan and the 14th Artillery Regiment of Tarbes, was composed mostly of recruits from the southwest region of France: Hautes-Pyrénées, Landes and Basses-Pyrénées and it fought on the Chemin des Dames during the 1914-1918 war and sustained substantial losses notably in fighting at the Hurtebise farm area and at Craonne. The monument comprises a 14-metre-high (46 ft) obelisk made from stone from Souppes near Melun, the stone used for the Arc de Triomphe and the basilica of Sacre-Coeur at Montmartre and at the base of the obelisk is a Grange sculpture of a soldier in traditional basque costume and wearing a basque beret. He carries a makhila. The soldier has turned his back on the battle area and looks out in the direction of his homeland. The base of the memorial also records the names of the regiments which made up the 36th and, under the carving of a military helmet, the names of the battles in which the 36th fought and the names of the division's principal commanders.[21] [22]

• 
  "Landes" mention on Basque Memorial.
• 
  "Hautes Pyrénées" mention on Basque Memorial
• 
  "Basses Pyrénées" mention on Basque Memorial