19th century FRENCH school, after Paul MOREAU-VAUTHIER... Lot 31

19th century FRENCH school, after Paul MOREAU-VAUTHIER (1871-1936) Monument to the Victims of the Revolutions, known as the Wall of the Federated States. Bas-relief in varnished wood. H. 19.5 x W. 49 cm WORKS IN RAPPORT : - Paul Moreau-Vauthier, Monument to the Victims of the Revolutions, Paris, Père Lachaise cemetery, Samuel de Champlain garden. - Paul Moreau-Vauthier, Monument to the Victims of the Revolutions, model, H. 30 x W. 77.5 cm, Paris, Musée Carnavalet, inv. S3355 This bas-relief is a reduction of the Monument to the Victims of the Revolutions created by the sculptor Paul Moreau-Vauthier. This monument, first presented in 1902 at the Salon and then in 1909, was bought by the City of Paris, which installed it on the outside of the Père Lachaise cemetery. The work was not officially inaugurated, as the subject was, at the time, so sensitive to public opinion. Paul Moreau-Vauthier evokes the painful memory of the numerous human losses during the Commune. Quoting Victor Hugo at the bottom of mur : "WHAT WE ASK FOR / THE FUTURE WHAT WE WANT FROM / IT IS JUSTICE - IT IS NOT VENGEANCE - VICTOR HUGO", the artist pleads for peace and forgiveness between the different camps. This monument with the female figure spreading her arms out embodying Justice or Pity, finds a new echo during the Second World War, and its use by the resistance as a support of protest against the German invader.