The weathervane rooster of POMPON, in Saint-Vaury, dedicated by Auguste Perret.

[François POMPON] Auguste PERRET (1874-1954)

Original autographed photograph.

Vintage silver gelatin print – 1924.

Photo from Chevojon studios (stamp on the back).

Size: 17 x 23 cm.

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Magnificent photograph showing Pompon's famous weathervane rooster installed on the spire of the church of Saint-Vaury (Creuse), dedicated by the French architect to his Grenoble colleague, Alfred Rome:

Rooster from the church of St Vaury (by Pompon).

To my colleague and friend Alfred Rome.

A. Perret.

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Following a fire caused by lightning in 1921, the bell tower of the church of Saint-Vaury was rebuilt by the Perret brothers, specialists in reinforced concrete, in 1924. The spire, formed of four slender fins, in reinforced concrete, linked by screens, is crowned by the rooster by François Pompon commissioned by Perret.

The Perret Frères firm was one of the most important architectural practices of the first half of the 20th century, with an international reputation. The Perret brothers (Auguste, Gustave, and Claude) pursued the search for a new classicism, based on the use of reinforced concrete, of which Auguste was the leading French theorist. He was also a professor and workshop leader at the École des Beaux-Arts and the first president of the French Order of Architects in 1941.

Among their many achievements in France and abroad are villas, private mansions, apartment buildings, residences and artists' studios, industrial and administrative buildings, theaters, museums, chapels, churches… and above all the reconstruction, after the Second World War, between 1945 and 1960, of the city of Le Havre, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.