Records of the Boston Committee of Sauvegarde de l'art Français, 1925-1938

The organization Sauvegarde de l'art Français was founded in Paris in 1925 to protect, conserve and restore France's artistic heritage of art and monuments. The duc de Trévise, Édouard Mortier, was the President of the Society; he organized a show and sale in the spring of 1924 to benefit what was then a personal project. Soon after that fundraiser, Mortier toured cities in the United States with the intent of raising additional money to benefit his cause. In 1925, after hearing Mortier speak about the organization, the Boston Committee of Sauvegarde de l'art Français, sometimes called La Sauvegarde de l'art Français, was formed. The Boston Committee brought together the leading artistic patrons of Boston, who raised money for the restoration, and eventual purchase, of the thirteenth century walled village of Larressingle, located in present day Gascony. Larressingle is spelled in multiple ways in the records of the Boston committee, often with only one r, or one s. Today the accepted spelling is "Larressingle." Larressingle is one of the smallest medieval fortresses in Europe, which in 1920 was a crumbling, neglected ruin. It was discovered in this condition by the duc de Trevise. and the state of the village led him to found the society. He encouraged the members of the Boston Committee to purchase the houses in the area; eventually they were able to purchase and restore much of the property from the winemaker who owned it.

Jean-Jacques Haffner, head of the Department of Architecture at Harvard College, made frequent trips to France, reporting from there to the Boston Committee on the goings on at the Paris Sauvegarde de l'art Français, and the state of the repairs at Larressingle. By 1930, Sauvegarde de l'art Français had committees in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Madison, and Minneapolis, as well as in cities all over France. The Boston Committee ceased to exist in early 1938 after it completed a successful purchase and restoration of the village of Larressingle. Sauvegarde de l'art Français exists today as a private restoration subsidy; it focuses mainly on the repair and restoration of old churches built prior to 1800. Larressingle is currently a popular tourist destination of the Pyrenees. As of January 2009, a website for the "Friends of Larressingle" was located at http://www.larressingle.asso.fr/; the Sauvegarde website was at http://www.sauvegardeartfrancais.fr/