Curated by Dana Kress

NOVEMBER 7, 2015 - JANUARY 31, 2016

On July 18, 1914, Jean Despujols (1886-1965) was crowned with France’s most coveted artistic award, the Prix de Rome, a government-sponsored art scholarship providing up to five years of study in Italy. A week later, just as he was packing, Germany declared war on France. Despujols was mobilized as a machine gunner on August 2, 1914. He left without a word, without a goodbye, secretly afraid he might do something cowardly.

For the next four years, Despujols fought—and sketched—along the Western Front, first in the 218th Infantry regiment, then in the 34th. He experienced some of the most devastating battles of the war—at Verdun, Chemin des Dames, Craonne, along the Aisne and Marne rivers, and in Belgium. Despujols was one of the lucky few; he was never wounded, at least not visibly. His writings, though, suggest deep scars: “Happy is the soldier with two feet in the tomb. Am I, too, not dead in my heart and in my soul?” 

Using whatever scraps of paper he could find, Despujols documented daily life and death, in art, prose, and poetry. After the war, he bound 136 of these eyewitness images into a sketchbook. Filled with pathos and nobility of spirit, this sketchbook testifies to his belief that artistic endeavor enables humanity to triumph over its tragedies. 

This exhibition features thirty of these surviving drawings along with Despujols’ original writing. On loan from the Despujols family, the sketches have never before been exhibited. With the help of Centenary’s History Department, this exhibition tells the story of major battles in France experienced by Despujols, and reveal the war-torn people and landscape he movingly depicted. 

Thank you to our lenders: 

• The Family of Jean Despujols 

• The R. W. Norton Art Gallery, Shreveport, LA 

• The National World War I Museum and Memorial, Kansas City, MO 

• Joel Montague 

And to our contributors: 

• Faculty: Dr. Dana Kress, Guest Curator, Chief Researcher, & Head Translator, & Dr. Chad Fulwider, Historical Consultant 

• Alumni: Jesse Brawley, Alissa Brown, Rachel Clampitt, Carrie Jones, & Gina Vaca Loyola 

• Student Researchers: Jonathan Baker, Tia Carter, Clément Corrion, Trey Davis, Elena Hibbs, Sarah Leal, Anzhanne Mackyeon, Breanna Menard, Tyler Nale, Chelsea Perry, & Alysea Velasquez 

• The Friends of the Meadows Museum