Presumed portrait of Paul Chevré around 1910
Paul Romaine Marie Léonce Chevré was born in Brussels, Belgium to French parents in 1866.
His ties with Belgium are, however, tenuous: if his mother's family is indeed from this country, he himself never resides there, and the reason for his birth in Brussels remains unknown. Son of a foundry director of Angevin origin, Chevré was quickly introduced to sculpture.
In the 1880s, while the family was living in Asnières, a city which inspired several artists of the time, Paul Chevré was trained by several artists who had passed through the Beaux-Arts in Paris, such as the sculptors Aimé Millet, Louis-Ernest Barrias and Pierre-Jules Cavelier.
He showed early talent for sculpture; his first exhibition took place in Paris in 1890.
In 1894, he exhibited at the Salon des artistes français, which allowed him three years later to obtain a scholarship to go to Canada. In 1896, he was selected in a competition launched by the city of Quebec to create the Monument to Samuel de Champlain. This statue, which became Chevré's major work, was erected on the Dufferin terrace next to the Château Frontenac. The creation of this work is not without setbacks since a great movement of opposition to French artists emerges in the Canadian press, which attacks the sculptor on the income received for his performance and on his work. The consecration came on September 21, 1898: Lord Aberdeen, Governor General of Canada, inaugurated the statue in front of a crowd of 30,000 people during ceremonies prepared long in advance.
In 1900 Chevré participated in the International Exhibition in Paris and won a bronze medal for sculpture. Statue of Samuel de Champlain Chevré designed several likenesses of figures from Canadian history. For 14 years he used to travel back and forth between France and Canada: six months a year he worked in his studio near Paris; he used to spend the other half of the year in Canada.
The statue of Honoré Mercier was created in 1909, and that of François-Xavier Garneau in 1911.
In 1911, Chevré received a new Canadian order. Charles Melville Hays, president of the Grand Trunk Railway, wanted him to produce a second bust of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, intended to adorn the lobby of the Château Laurier in Ottawa, which was to be inaugurated in April 1912.
Titanic[]
It was to go to this inauguration that the sculptor embarked on April 10, 1912 aboard the liner Titanic, in the port of Cherbourg. Hays also travels on board the liner with his family. The group thus takes part in the crossing, Chevré speaking mainly French with its sponsor, and must then complete the journey from New York in a private train. At the same time, the sculpture traveled aboard the liner La Bretagne belonging to the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. He took accomodation in cabin A-9 which was ideal for someone not used to sea travel because of the great comfort it offered.
The night the ship struck the iceberg, Paul Chevré was playing bridge with Philadelphia's Alfred Fernand Omont, Pierre Maréchal and Lucien P. Smith at Cafe Parisien. After feeling the tremor, they went on deck. The three French were able to board lifeboat 7, the first lifeboat to be launched, and were later taken on board by the steamer Carpathia, thus surviving the Titanic disaster. His fellow American player, Mr. Smith, perished while he was still looking for his wife, who had already retired to the cabin when the ship hit the iceberg.
Aftermath[]
Chevré was one of the surviving Titanic passengers who was interviewed soon after arriving in New York on April 18, 1912, and whose testimony was used in the first press reports of the Herald and other newspapers about the tragedy. According to these reports, he allegedly claimed, among other things, that Captain Smith shot himself shortly before the ship sank. It was also claimed that the bust for the hotel went down with the shipwreck.
However, this was either a misunderstanding on the part of the reporter or a hoax to make something more sensational to read. When Chevré arrived in Montreal on April 22, 1912, he immediately contacted the local French-language newspaper La Presse and had a denial published. Chevré rejected that he had made a claim about Smith's suicide, and argued that the bust was too large for him to be kept in his cabin and it was onboard the SS Bretagne.In its apology, The Herald cited its reporter's poor knowledge of French, who may have misunderstood Chevré's explanations. After the shipwreck, Chevré stayed in Québec for six months. The statue of Marianne, located in Montreal's Viger Square, was created during this period.
With the death of Charles Hays, the inauguration of the Château Laurier hotel scheduled for April 24, 1912 was cancelled. Chevré was however present on June 1 when, without ceremony, Sir Wilfrid Laurier symbolically became the establishment's first client. Chevré's reputation following the sinking continued to grow: he appeared in a front-page photomontage of Le Petit Parisien alongside John Jacob Astor and Joseph Bruce Ismay, while, on the more negative side, Pierre Maréchal told his return to France that Chevré behaved like a cowardly, even whiny man throughout the sinking.
After returning to France at the end of June, Chevré continues to divide himself between his native country and his adopted land, where he continues to exhibit works. In 1913, during his last visit to Canada, he inaugurated a statue personifying France.
In the wake of the shipwreck, which gave him unexpected notoriety, Chevré also received an order to adorn the forecourt of the Notre-Dame de la Victoire parish church in Lévis, Quebec. The contract for this statue which was to represent the Sacred Heart was signed at the beginning of 191423. However, he did not have time to complete his work.
In February 1914, he fell ill and became blind. At 6 P.M.. on February 20, Chevré finally succumbed to what a doctor called "Bright's disease" (nephritis). His funeral was celebrated in Asnières three days later. In the spring, the Artistic Association of Asnières pays homage to him by exhibiting four of his works.
The incomplete Sacré Cœur will be completed by Romain Chevré, the sculptor's father, who probably gives it the features of his dying son, and by craftsmen from his workshop. As for the construction of its base, the task was assigned to Lorenzo Auger, an architect from Lévis. The statue was inaugurated on July 25, 1915 in front of thousands of people. During its inauguration, the work shocked some of the inhabitants, who considered it disrespectful. Romain Chevré died in 1916, already weakened by the disappearance of his son.
Work[]
The work of Chevré, mainly turned to statuary, is best known in Canada: the works of the artist preserved in France being quite rare. However, he has participated in several artistic projects in this country. With his father, he is in charge of the renovation of the town hall of Asnières: Paul Chevré works in particular on the design of the bust of Marianne which adorns the wedding hall of the building, but his work extends to many other points of the building. He sculpted many allegories and symbols there, such as a cornucopia or a majestic lion.
Another of his sculptures still visible in France is Jeunesse, dating from 1909, which represents a young girl running, sculpted in white marble. However, the most famous works of Paul Chevré are kept in Canada, a country that truly adopted his art and gave him its most important public commissions. He thus created several busts of Wilfrid Laurier (one of which justifies his trip aboard the Titanic), but also monumental statues of François-Xavier Garneau and Honoré Mercier, exhibited in public places.
Among these statues, the most notorious, which made it famous and became one of the symbols of the city of Quebec, is a monument of nearly 16 meters dedicated to Samuel de Champlain, founder of the colony. Although this work is now Chevré's most recognized work, its critical reception at the time was mixed: La Semaine Commerciale advised the sculptor to take lessons, for having produced a “big sad musketeer”. Over time, however, the work has become a valued piece of local heritage, and is sometimes considered the best representation of the character.