GEORGE DESVALLIÈRES (Paris 1861–1950 Paris) The Ascension, Christ’s Ascension to Heaven Watercolor, gouache, and oil on paper mounted on cardboard, gridded Signed and dated lower right: “George Desvallières / 1926” H. 62.4 cm - W. 42.5 cm Christ’s Ascension is a preparatory drawing by George Desvallières for one of the monumental canvases (549 x 366 cm) in the Ascension cycle that decorates the ceiling of the nave of St. John the Baptist Church in Pawtucket, in Rhode Island, United States. It is located at the center of the church. The composition also depicts Christ as mediator and serves as a link between the painting of the Apostles at the entrance and that of God the Father near the choir. Christ is depicted in the center, rising above the clouds. He looks down toward the group of apostles in the preceding panel. This sketch is part of a series we are offering for sale—three monumental canvases painted in 1926, illustrating the mystery of the Ascension for St. John the Baptist Church in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in the United States. At the time this series was created, George Desvallières was an artist in his sixties at the height of his artistic powers and institutional recognition. He established himself as the great innovator of modern Christian art. Deeply marked by his experience of World War I and the death of his son in combat, Desvallières vowed to devote his painting entirely to God. He definitively abandoned the secular and mythological subjects of his early career to turn toward monumental religious works. In 1919, he co-founded the Ateliers d’art sacré with his friend Maurice Denis. In 1926, he became its co-director, serving as a leader and mentor to an entire new generation of young Christian artists committed to the renewal of religious art. The Pawtucket project was part of a decade of intense monumental production. He had just completed the tragic and commemorative cycle for the Chapel of Saint-Privat in the Gard (1919–1925) and, as early as 1927, was preparing to design the stained-glass windows for the Douaumont Ossuary. This American project was entrusted to him by Father Alphonse Graton and the Quebec architect Ernest Cormier and was intended for a parish composed largely of French-Canadian exiles. Unlike the decoration of the Saint-Privat Chapel, this design is distinguished by its majestic, bright, and joyful atmosphere. The artist employs luminous colors to express divine glory and serenity, without any reference to the horrors of battle. The main iconographic program consists of four large painted coffers affixed to the church ceiling. The sketches we present here are preparatory studies for three of these monumental canvases (nearly 5 x 4 m) that illustrate the mystery of the Ascension: The Apostles, Christ the Mediator, and God the Father. In the American church, they run in sequence from the entrance of the nave to the choir and are followed by a fourth panel, suspended directly above the altar, depicting the Triumph of the Eucharist. These very large canvases were painted in France by Desvallières before being rolled up to cross the Atlantic and mounted on site. He managed to complete these monumental canvases in just four months of relentless work, which critics of the time hailed as a record for a man of his age. When they were exhibited at the 1926 Salon d’Automne in Paris, the critical response was unanimous and laudatory. This entire series was completed in 1928 with an Annunciation to decorate the wedding chapel. The studies we present here are previously unpublished and supplement those described in the catalogue raisonné by Catherine Ambroselli de Bayser (Ambroselli, Hornus, Lequeu, George Desvallières: Catalogue Raisonné of the Complete Works, Paris, Somogy, 2015, pp. 468–475, CR 1819–1832) We thank Catherine Ambroselli de Bayser and Priscilla Hornus, who will be adding these drawings to the catalogue raisonné of George Desvallières’s complete works.