Jean BOUCHER Cesson-Sévigné, 1870 - Paris, 1939 Mask of Victor Hugo, study for the 'Monument to Victor Hugo in Exile', Island of Guernsey Terracotta Signed 'Jean Boucher' at bottom Height: 32 cm (12.59 in.) Resting on an oak base Total height: 35.5 cm (13.98 in.) Mask of Victor Hugo, terracotta, signed, by J. Boucher Provenance: Private collection, Paris Commentary: Related works: Jean Boucher, 'Victor Hugo in Exile', circa 1913, granite, 315 x 235 x 155 cm, Isle of Guernsey, Candie Gardens Jean Boucher, 'Victor Hugo', Hermes bust in plaster, 1904, 53 x 60 x 45 cm, Cesson-Sévigné, Lycée Sévigné, inv. 997-1 Although the commission for the King of Portugal was cancelled because of the 1908 uprisings in Lisbon, it gave the artist the opportunity to respond to the "Hugo vogue" by working on the theme of the illustrious poet from 1906, from the perspective of the master's exile. When the commission was cancelled, the work was shown at the Salon des Artistes français in 1908, where it was very well received by the critics. The French government, in conjunction with the Société Victor Hugo, purchased the work and invited the States of Guernsey to accept it in the place of Victor Hugo's exile. The work, translated into granite, was unveiled on 7 and 8 July 1914 in Guernsey's Candie Garden. After the war, the artist commissioned the foundryman Valsuani to produce several bronze versions. In his 'Chroniques d'Art', Guillaume Apollinaire commented on 7 July 1914: About Jean Boucher's "Victor Hugo": "Jean Boucher did not want to compete with Rodin and it is not the Titan that he has sculpted, it is the man, the exiled poet who dreams of his homeland and awaits inspiration by the sea. Jean Boucher's work captures with rare joy all the memories of the turbulent life of this great and prolific poet (...)". At the Salon des Artistes français on 29 April 1913, Apollinaire had already commented: "Jean Boucher's Victor Hugo is a piece of superb flight. "