The town hall is the first stage of the "Jeanne d'Arc Trail in Patay".
The town hall is the first stage of the "Joan of Arc Trail in Patay". 1 - The statue «Joan of Arc after the battle». Concrete work by Claire Boris, this statue was inaugurated on June 18, 2021. Commissioned in 2020 by the association «Effet de Cerf» to represent the 17-year-old girl who was Jeanne d'Arc on the evening of June 18, 1429 after the battle, in all her humanity: Simple, virtuous, sensitive to the ravages of the fight because mourning the many English victims (hand on heart), but also proud of the great victory won, combative, his convictions pegged to the body, and determined to go to the end of his mission. This statue was erected in the garden of the town hall, the face turned towards the church, as a symbol of the reconciliation between Jeanne the saint and Jeanne the republican heroine... Plaque on the Route des Illustres du département du Loiret hangs on the grid of the town hall garden: https://www.tourismeloiret.com/en/diffusio/illustres/jeanne-d-arc-patay_TFOILLCEN045V509S2W 3- Paintings by Rémy Hétreau: "La bataille de Patay", "La fête à Patay". Born on January 31, 1913 in Patay, Rémy Hétreau (1913-2001) was a student of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans in 1930. After studying at the Ecole Boulle in Paris until 1934, he entered the Galeries Lafayette creative workshop in 1936. He soon became responsible for the design and production of the showcases. There he met Jeannine Jager, also a decorator, who would become his wife. The summer of 1938 is the blossoming of their love and the discovery of Brantes, a small wild village in the Vaucluse. The separation due to war is a painful interlude, expressed in illustrated letters almost daily, which escape the poetic imagination of military reality. As soon as he was demobilized, he returned to Paris to marry Jeannine. She would be his companion and a precious ally in his work. Their two worlds blend perfectly: she herself makes models for porcelain and textiles, as well as illustrations and charming gouaches. Every summer, they spend as much time as possible in Brantes, with their two daughters Marie and Sylvie. It is there, in an old stable transformed into a workshop, that they devote themselves to their more personal works. Rémy Hétreau is deeply influenced by the landscapes of Beauce. He was a friend of the engraver Louis-Joseph Soulas, and remained very attached to the cultural life of Orléans. 1st Prize at the 44th General Competition of Decorative Composition in 1934, Silver Medal of the Society of Encouragement to Art and Industry, Silver Medal of the Society of Architects Graduates by the Government, painter, sculptor, engraver, he also illustrated several works for Robert Denoël such as L'Hôtel du Nord by Eugène Dabit in 1944 and Le Mouchoir rouge by the Comte de Gobineau at the Editions de la Tour in 1945. Appointed professor at the Institute of Visual Arts of the city of Orléans, from 1961 to 1981, he is a member of the society of Orléanais artists, of which he is the president between 1964 and 1984. The rest of his life is essentially devoted to engraving. Long familiar with the technique of etching, he then seeks to master the dry tip and chisel. He acquired a large press. He himself draws the different proofs with happiness and meticulousness, and he enriches some of them with watercolour, each then being a new story. We find his universe full of mischievous poetry. Her friend Barjavel said «the work of Rémy Hétreau is beautiful and true like a May garden; to whom she looks, she says to be happy to live». For his daughters, "Rémy Hétreau is a complete artist. His work is all marked by the poet’s gaze on the world, full of humour and tenderness, combined with the requirement of a craftsman, his taste for know-how and beautiful work patiently mastered.” During his life, Rémy Hétreau was an illustrator, but also a painter, decorator, stall architect, stall maker, imagier and sculptor. It is also found on multiple occasions decorator of theatrical plays in Paris or in the provinces such as the Opéra de Nice. In 1950-1951 he lectured at the Cours d'Art Graphique et de Publicité at the Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. In 1954, he was invited by the Canadian government to give courses in decoration at the Collège Technique d'Arts Appliqués de Montréal and from 1961 to 1981, he was professor of flat decoration and graphic art at the Institut d'Arts Visuels d'Orléans. He was also hired for official missions abroad as a decorator by the National Centre for Foreign Trade from 1945 to 1978. Promoted in 1959, Chevalier de l'Ordre de l'Economie Nationale, he was awarded a silver medal at the Salon du Chevalet in Tours in 1974 and the medal of the city of Orléans ten years later. Deceased in Boulogne-Billancourt on November 27, 2001, Rémy Hétreau rests in the family vault in the cemetery of Patay and his works are still present in many Parisian galleries... In his honor, the town hall of Patay can be proud to own some of its paintings such as the victory of Patay,18 June 1429 and the party in Patay, which adorn the mayor’s office and the city council hall. 4- The reproduction of the painting "-Joan of Arc victorious in Patay", by Lionel Royer and denoted in the notice Palissy as "Jeanne leads the battle" https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/palissy/PM88002005 decorates the public space of the town hall of Patay. The execution of the commission of this painting for the basilica of Domrémy was entrusted to Lionel Royer (1852-1926) in 1910 by Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel (1850-1913), too ill to continue his project of 6 paintings on the life of Joan of Arc in this basilica.
