Raymond Delamarre: Sculptor and Medalist

A prolific sculptor, Raymond Delamarre (1890-1986) expressed his quest for refined statuary through elegant forms, from the medal to the monumental, through sixty years of creation. Following the Grand Prix de Rome in 1919, he propelled himself brilliantly into the interwar period. The 1925 International Exhibition was the first step in a fruitful collaboration with Michel Roux-Spitz, which led to the creation of the famous Monument to the Defense of the Suez Canal and the decoration of the facade of the chapel of the Nantes University Hospital.

During the Colonial Exhibition of 1931, he distinguished himself by creating four Beatitudes and a Sacred Heart. His allegories of the sacred, as well as the profane – Paris, City of Light for the Brussels Universal Exhibition, Arts and regional monuments for the liner Normandie, and Human Knowledge for the Palais de Chaillot, still overlooking the Place du Trocadéro – exalt French scientific and cultural knowledge. Engaged in the reconstruction after 1945, he adorned the town hall of Grand-Couronne, the Hôtel des Postes de Louviers and the postal check center of Dijon with bas-reliefs. His sculptures give new impetus to the high schools of Brest, Perpignan and Fort-de-France. An ardent creator of the Art Deco period, he responded to private commissions, of which Mowgli will remain the most striking, both in originality and the richness of his composition.

Text in French only