Raymond Sudre (1870 - 1962) Héléna, city of Roussillon dreams of its ancient splendor Bronze with double patina of light brown and red ochre. Signed "Raymond Sudre" on the side of the chair. Bears the mark of the founder "SIOT PARIS" and the n° 628 / E on the back. 21 x 15,5 x 17 cm Related works : - Raymond Sudre, Héléna, cité roussillonnaise, rêve à son antique splendeur, 1902, patinated plaster, 200 x 129 x 167 cm, signed Raymond Sudre and dated 1902, bought at the salon of the Société des artistes français in Paris in 1902, n° cat. 2869, Central national des arts plastiques, on deposit at the Hyacinthe Rogaud museum in Perpignan, n° inv. FNAC 1141 - Raymond Sudre, Héléna, cité roussillonnaise, rêve à son antique splendeur, 1902, marble, H. 192 cm, Carcassonne, Jardin André-Chenier Born in Perpignan and the son of a marble mason, Raymond Sudre trained at the Beaux-Arts in Paris, in the workshops of Alexandre Falguière and Antonin Mercié. He was awarded the Second Grand Prix de Rome in 1900, and achieved real success at the 1902 Salon des Artistes Français with Helena, a city in Roussillon dreaming of its ancient splendor. He received the Desprez prize for this work as well as a travel grant allowing him to travel around Europe, from Spain to the Netherlands, to perfect his style and training. In 1905, the State commissioned a marble version of this Helen. The work was finally installed in the Jardin des Plantes in Carcassonne in 1907. The model of our bronze was however intended for the town of Elne, Elna in Catalan, near Perpignan. Sudre was inspired both by the name of this city and by the female figure with which it has been associated since the 4th century when the emperor Constantine had a caestrum built there, to which he gave the name of his mother, Helena. Sudre's marble will never be incorporated into the city. The work is indeed scandalous. The sculptor did not represent the allegory that the city of Elne expected. He created a woman in a meditative and languid pose, far from the grandiose representations of Saint Helena discovering the relics of the Passion.