Charles-Henri Pourquet

Born in Colombes, the son of a baker, Pourquet had Nivernais origins and was a student of Louis-Ernest Barrias and Jules Coutan at the École des beaux-arts de Paris.^[1] In 1907, he became a member of the Société des artistes français

He was successful after the First World War, with sculptures of Poilus that served as models for many war memorials in France^[2] under three different models: Bust, Poilu, and more particularly the one entitled Resistance, of which several hundred copies will be cast by the Fonderie d'art du Val d'Osne [fr].^[3]

Among other works, is "Orpheus at the tomb of Eurydice", a bas-relief which will then be acquired by the State for the new National Conservatory of Music,^[4] a monument dedicated to Jules Renard in Chitry-les-Mines (Nièvre)^[4] where the writer lived as a child, and the Tombeau de la famille Sabaterie, in the Arlanc (Puy-de-Dôme) cemetery.^[4] He remarried at the town hall of the 18th arrondissement on 5 November 1921, with Valentine Saint-Selve.

For a long time, Pourquet had his workshop at Les Fusains [fr], an artists community located at 22 rue Tourlaque [fr]^[5] in Montmartre, in the 18th arrondissement.

• Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur in 1931.
• Gold medal at the 1929 Salon.

• Salon des artistes français:
• 1925: Maréchal Sérurier, stone statue, commissioned by the State.
• 1928: Statue de mon jeune ami Jean Le Blond, plaster; Tristesse, terracotta statuette.
• 1935: M. Renaitour, député-maire d'Auxerre, plaster, M. Ortiz, président des Amis de la Légion.

• Chitry: Monument to Jules Renard , destroyed in 1942.
• Lormes: Résistance, Poilu blocking the enemy's way, at the top of the War Memorial.

• 
  Monument aux morts,
  Jou-sous-Monjou.
• 
  Monument aux morts,
  Savignac-les-Églises.

• In May 1919, the magazine L'Art funéraire devoted a complimentary article to him with a photograph on the front page. Each issue, since its publication, has been used to advertise him and describes him as a "statuary of pain".