A view of the full east elevation of Le Facteur Cheval's superb work of art, essentially made over a period of thirty-three years by the self-taught postman Ferdinand Cheval (1836–1924) from stones and pebbles he collected in a wheelbarrow as he went about his postal round. This is only the beginning though as I have a great number of photos to sift through and crop, etc, so there is much more to come later.
ADDENDUM: My blog post is now at Le Facteur Cheval's Palais Idéal, Hauterives
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4 comments:
I am looking forward to seeing the rest of your pictures. If I had a bucket list visiting here would be on it.
I've taken well over a hundred photos so it's gonna take some work. I'd very strongly recommend you visit Hauterives if all possible, as this place is far more impressive than you'd ever imagine. It's difficult to believe the opposition which culture minister André Malraux received from people calling it the ugly work of a peasant. Malraux, bless him, said it would be infantile not to list what was the only existing example of outsider art in the world.
The first time I heard of it was on the Robert Hughes TV series 'The Shock of the New', it must have been back in the 80's. I was absolutely entranced by the place; I'd never heard of anything like it before. I've been promising myself for years that one day I'll do a tour of France just to visit these outsider sites as there are so many of them - Robert Tatin's Musee looks as good as the Palais Ideal (I might take a detour to Belgium to see La Tour de l'Apocalypse as well).
Apart from growing up with my parents and during the Beta/VHS period (I love movies) I've made it a policy never to have a TV set. This of course means that you miss things, although the era of the internet means I can select anything I want to watch, and I came to discover outsider art via Jarvis Cocker's TV series uploaded to YouTube. But no Robert Tatin, and he was new to me, so thanks for mentioning a museum I've now added to my list. He seems to be much more aware of art in general than most others though, and even Jarry seems to have been an influence. Le Facteur Cheval's main influences are said to have been flipping though illustrated magazines he delivered, and exotic postcards, which I find a little difficult to believe.
Oh, and the Collection de l'art brut in Lausanne is a must too.
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