This is a listing of the main works of Jean Boucher, who was a French sculptor born in Cesson-Sévigné on 20 November 1870. He died in Paris in 1939 and is buried in Rennes alongside his son.

Early works After completing his primary education and when he was twelve years of age, Boucher was apprenticed to a Rennes blacksmith but his artistic abilities came to the notice of the sculptor Charles Joseph Lenoir, the father of Pierre Charles Lenoir, who advised him to attend evening classes at the "Halle aux Toiles" in Rouen. There he became a friend of the painter Jules Ronsin who was to become a director of the Ếcole Régionale des Beaux-arts in Rennes, a school which was to produce a generation of talented sculptors who became known as the "Ếcole de Rennes" and apart from Boucher included Paul Le Goff, Louis Henri Nicot, Pierre Charles Lenoir, Eloi Robert, Albert Bourget, Armel Beaufils and Francis Renaud. 1888 was to be an important year for Boucher and he enrolled at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, helped by a bursary from the Rennes municipality. On arriving in Paris he shared rooms with Ronsin and his apprenticeship started at the Académie Julian where he was able to learn from Henri Chapu and by the end of 1889 he was able to join the Ếcole des beaux-arts itself and was placed in the studio of Alexandre Falguière and was able to attend classes run by Antonin Mercié. Boucher now worked on preparing suitable works to submit to the salons and enter into competitions. 1891 saw him win third medal in the competition entitled "Figure modelée d'après l'antique". 1896 saw Boucher's first showing at the Salon des Artistes français with a plaster version of "Un soir". Here are details of some of these early works.

"Âge d'or" In 1893 he executed the composition "Âge d'or" and in that year won the "Lemaire" competition medal which allowed him to reduce the length of his obligatory military service which was due at that time. The present whereabouts of "Âge d'or" is not known.

"Achille revêt l'armure apportée à Thétis" This plaster bas-relief is held in the Musée des Beaux-rts in Troyes. It had been Boucher's submission for the Prix de Rome in 1894. "Achille revêt l'armure apportée à Thétis" had been that year's set subject for those competing for the prize. Boucher was the runner-up, but by way of consolation did win the 1894 Chenavard prize.

"Un soir" This marble composition was shown at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1899 and presented to Montauban in 1902, where it stands in the "Jardin des Plantes". Several versions of the piece were cast in bronze. The plaster version had appeared at the Salon des Artistes français in 1896.

"Caïn après la mort d'Abel" In 1898, Boucher was again the runner-up for the Prix de Rome. "Caïn après la mort d'Abel" was that year's set subject. This was the year he left the Beaux-Arts having won the "Prix National" (see comments below for "Antique et moderne").

Restoration of the west porch of the Dol-de-Bretagne cathedral In 1898 Boucher received his first major commission when invited to participate in the restoration of Dol-de-Bretagne cathedral. He worked on some relief sculptures on the exterior of the cathedral's west porch. This work exposed Boucher to the technics of Gothic architects and craftsmen.

"Antique et moderne" This work in marble can now be seen in Cesson-Sévigné although for many years it was held in the Nantes' Musée des Beaux-Arts. This work won the "Prix National" in 1898 which came with a bursary to cover the expense of a period spent outside France studying sculpture including a year in Italy, something along the lines of the "Prix de Rome" but without the chance to study at the Académie de France/Villa Medici. Boucher left Paris on 1 September 1901, visiting museums and staying for periods in Belgium, Germany, England and Spain before reaching Italy. Boucher's composition features two people, one representing antiquity in the form of a philosopher seated in an armchair and the other modernity with a depiction of a young woman seated on the ground by the philosopher. Both are deep in thought. A plaster version was shown at the Salon des Artistes français in 1899 and in 1905 Boucher donated this to the Musée Joseph Denais in Beaufort-en-Vallée.

"Devant la Mer" This marble work depicting a young couple was exhibited at the Salon des Artistes français in 1899. In 1934 it was shown at the Musée du Petit Palais and the following year placed in the Jardin des Tuileries. In 1959 Germaine Richier' s "L'échiquier" replaced Boucher's "Devant la Mer" and the latter's present whereabouts is not known.

"Eté" In 1900 Boucher received the first class medal from the Salon des Artistes français for this plaster composition which featured a family scene; wife, husband and daughter. The present whereabouts of this work is not known.

His successes at this time with the Salon des Artistes français where he exhibited the work "Antique et Moderne" and others and his near successes with the Prix de Rome led to a bursary being granted in 1901 as part of the Prix National which allowed Boucher to travel overseas and he visited Belgium, Spain, Germany and Great Britain and finished in Italy where he was obliged under the terms of the bursary to study for one year.

Subsequent works

Monument to Ernest Renan

In 1903, Boucher, having returned to France from Italy, received the commission to work on the Ernest Renan monument in Tréguier. The statue was inaugurated in 1903 and sits in the place Matray and in front of Tréguier's cathedral. Renan is depicted next to Athena the Goddess of Reason and the symbol of Science and Wisdom. The work is in bronze, the casting being undertaken by the Malesset foundry. The plaque on the monument's base reads The erection of the monument was promoted in 1902 by "Les Bretons de Paris". Boucher was awarded the Légion d’honneur for this work.

Monument to Rivoire Boucher's monument to André Rivoire can be seen in Vienne. Rivoire was a poet and playwright.

"Union de la Bretagne à la France"

This 1911 work was arguably one of Boucher's best works but the "Gwenn ha Du" group blew it up as a protest. It was never replaced but some of the fragments were used for subsequent monuments/memorials. See later details. The Rennes art museum for example hold a fragment entitled "Tête de bretonne".

The work "Chinoise au brûle parfum" Both the Musée des beaux-arts in Rennes and the Musée d'Orsay in Paris hold versions of this Boucher work which he worked on between 1911 and 1913. The association "Bretons de Paris" had organised for a monument to be erected in Brest dedicated to Dr Mesny. The work was in bronze and stood in Brest's place de La Tour d'Auvergne but in 1942 the work was requisitioned and the bronze melted down. However limited edition reductions had been cast in bronze and marketed under the titles "Oriental Priest" and "Oriental Fairy" and it is copies of these statuettes which the two museums hold. The work had been shown at the 1923 Exposition coloniale in Marseille. In 1979 the original plaster model came into the possession of the Musée de Rennes.

Bust of Charles Le Goffic

This Boucher work can be seen in Lannion's place de l'Église Saint-Jean.

"La Maternité" The "Manoir du Carfour" in La Bouëxière is today known as the "Centre médical Rey-Leroux" and in the nearby park is a work by Boucher entitled "La Maternité". This work has been identified as having been a part of the Rennes "La Réunion de la Bretagne à la France" blown up in 1932 by Breton separatists but others feel it was a preliminary study intended for the Rennes sculpture. The Musée municipal de Locronan have a plaster version of the work.

Monument to Armand Dayot This 1937 Boucher work in Paimpol was another bronze confiscated and melted down in 1941. The inscription on the pedestal reads Jean-Julien Lemordant and "les Bleus de Bretagne" decided to honour Dayot who was born in Paimpol. After the war a replacement bust was erected but in stone not bronze.

Monument to Charles Baratoux Boucher executed the bronze bust for this 1904 monument which is located in Saint-Brieuc. Baratoux had served as Saint Brieuc's mayor. In 1942 the bronze was requisitioned and melted down. In 1949 Elie Le Goff executed a replacement bust.

Monument to Edouard Le Mounier

This monument was dedicated to the French aviator who died in 1918. It marks Le Mounier's tomb in the Cimetière Saint-Michel in Saint-Brieuc. Boucher's bust of Le Mounier sits on a column of pink marble and by this column is the sculpture a veiled woman in mourning, an allegory for France. She clasps a wounded bird in her arms.

Bust of the Comtesse de Ségur

This Boucher bust of the writer and Russian-born Countess dates to 1920 and can be seen in Paris' Jardin du Luxembourg.

Bust of Eugène Biraud Biraud had set up the first cooperative milk factory in Brittany and Boucher was commissioned in 1932 to execute this bronze bust which stands in Surgères' avenue de la Gare.

Statue of Serpollet Boucher's sculpture was unveiled in 1909. Léon Serpollet was a French industrialist and maker of steam automobiles under the "Gardner-Serpollet" brand. He also designed steam trams.

Monument à la Victoire et aux Soldats de Verdun

This monument celebrating the victory at Verdun and the soldiers who fought there throughout 1914-1918 stands in Verdun's place de la Libération. Boucher worked on the monument with the architect Léon Chesnay. Building started in 1926. This monument is of huge dimensions and stands at the top of a 73 step staircase joining the rue Mazes with the place de la Liberation. Boucher's sculpture of a French warrior stands at the top of a pyramid shaped tower leaning on a massive sword and looking out towards the Verdun battlefields to the east. At the foot of the tower is a crypt into whose niches, records (les Livres d'Or) of the names of the French and American soldiers who fought on the Meuse were placed, although these records are now held in Verdun's mairie. Boucher had fought at Verdun and joining the Army as a sergeant he had been promoted to lieutenant and was awarded the Croix de Guerre. The inauguration took place on 23 June 1929 as part of various ceremonies in that year to mark the "renaissance" of Verdun after ten years of reconstruction. The ceremony was performed before a huge crowd with Gaston Doumergue, Raymond Poincaré and Marshal Philippe Pétain presiding. This monument is of enormous importance to the French nation with ceremonies organised by the "Comité de la Voie sacrée" and the "la Voie de la Liberté" and a torch lit procession each year on the 11 November from the flame of the Arc de Triomphe's tomb of the unknown soldier is taken to Verdun and relights the flame in the monument's crypt and other torches are taken to various war memorials throughout France (known as the "Flamme du Souvenir"). Below is a photograph of the plaque on the monument's base. On each side of the Boucher's sculpture are 152.4 mm Russian canons.

Study of Fra Angelico Boucher executed the Fra Angelico sculpture in around 1913 and the Musée d'Orsay hold a version in marble. The founder Valsuani carried out various castings in bronze and Rudier did a bronze casting just of the head. Boucher won the Houllevigne prize with this work.

Monument to Maréchal Galliéni

This 1926 bronze sculpture by Boucher is located in Paris' Place Vauban. The figure of Galliéni stands on a Euville stone pedestal and is supported by four caryatids which are allegories for the major phases of Galliéni's life- The Sudan where he started his career, Tonkin where he fought Chinese rebels, Madagascar where he served as Governor and Paris which he helped defend in 1914. Originally the monument was erected on the esplanade des Invalides.