Boréale - Maxime Adam-Tessier

Inaugurated in 1970 for the Grande Arche La Défense RER station, Boréale is a large stainless steel bas-relief. The artwork is 3 metres high (in keeping with the dimensions originally planned for the wall on which it is located) and 26 metres long.

The horizontal lines evoke a dynamic that responds to the vanishing lines of the architectural environment. In its centre and slightly to the right are two circular elements.

The artwork is located at the end of the platform between tracks 1 and A, in the direction of Paris. It occupies the entire back wall. The other ends of the platforms are also occupied by two other artworks: Bas-relief en cuivre [Copper bas-relief] occupies the wall of the platform between tracks 2 and B, at the head of the train in the direction of the suburbs; Traits d'union [Hyphens] is located exactly opposite, at the head of the train in the direction of Paris, and covers the walls of both platforms.

A word about the artist

Maxime Adam-Tessier is a student of Despiau and then Laurens. This artist, born in 1920 in Rouen and died in 2000, exploded in France and abroad, distinguishing himself by his almost "cubist" forms, with dense and full volumes. His sculptures mark many familiar landscapes: the RER station of La Défense, but also the church of Notre-Dame-des-Pauvres in Issy-les-Moulineaux. He taught at the Royal College of Art in London.