Alphonse Gurlhie, Maisonneuve (07)

Self-taught artist Alphonse Gurlhie (1862-1944) was born in Chandolas near Maisonneuve. An orphan at six, he learned to look after himself and was a very unusual character. He learned the world of nature around him, the calcareous scrubland of the bois de Païolive. He began sculpture at the age of sixty-one, and continued for twenty years. He had houses in Beauchastel and Maisonneuve, where he executed about thirty mainly animal sculptures around them. He has been called a precursor of art brut, or outsider art. Gurlhie mainly worked with reinforced concrete for the bulk of the object and metal for smaller details such as teeth, fins, feathers, etc. Marbles were used for eyes. Nature, wildlife in general, was his inspiration, although he also included a portrait of himself with medals for bravery on his chest and his hat. An interpretation panel notes that he never took himself seriously, and his inventions were bizarre: for example, he installed a 'Suez Canal' to enable him to urinate without leaving his bed. Many of his works have been preserved in the 'Jardin de Gurhlie' here. His grave was designed by Gurlhie, inspired apparently by the dolmens in the area, although I failed to find a cemetery in Maisonneuve as mentioned on one of the interpretation panels: could that be the cemetery in Chandolas? Life, unfortunately, is too short, and at 40 degrees it threatens to get much shorter, so I abandoned the idea of trying to find it: I saw not a single person in Maisonneuve, but then trying to find anyone between 12:00 and 15:00 hours in a hamlet in the Ardèche is virtually impossible. I included a photo from the information plaque onsite and hope no one chases me with a copyright hammer. The wonder of Gurlhie has been preserved at the junction of the road into Maisonneuve and into Chandolas:

And on the way out of Maisonneuve, I spotted several marbled white butterflies: in French demi-deuil (half-mourning, which makes sense) or échiquier commun (common chessboard):

Art brut (Outsider Art) and associated:
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Rémy Callot, Carvin (Nord)
Carine Fol (ed.): L'Art brut en question | Outsider Art in Question
Kevin Duffy, Ashton-in-Makerfield
The Art Brut of Léopold Truc, Cabrières d'Avignon (34)
Le Musée Extraordinaire de Georges Mazoyer, Ansouis (34)
Le Facteur Cheval's Palais Idéal, Hauterives (26)
The Little Chapel, Guernsey
Museum of Appalachia, Norris, Clinton, Tennessee
Ed Leedskalnin in Homestead, Florida
La Fabuloserie, Dicy, Yonne (89)
Street Art City, Lurcy-Lévis, Allier (03)
The Outsider Art of Jean Linard, Neuvy-deux-Clochers (18)
La Fabuloserie, Dicy, Yonne (89)
Jean Bertholle, La Fabuloserie, Yonne (89)
Jean-Pierre Schetz, La Fabuloserie, Yonne (89)
Jules Damloup, La Fabuloserie, Yonne (89)
Camille Vidal, La Fabuloserie, Yonne (89)
Pascal Verbena, La Fabuloserie, Yonne (89)
The Art of Theodore Major
Edward Gorey's Yarmouth Port, Cape Cod, MA
Marcel Vinsard in Pontcharra, Isère (38)
Vincent Capt: Écrivainer : La langue morcelée de Samuel Daiber
The Amazing World of Danielle Jacqui, Roquevaire (13)
Alphonse Gurlie, Maisonneuve (07)
Univers du poète ferrailleur, Lizio, Morbihan
Les Rochers sculptés de L'Abbé Fouré, Rothéneuf, Saint-Malo
Robert Tatin in Cossé-le-Vivien, Mayenne
René Raoul's Jardin de pierre in Pléhédel, Côtes d'Armor
La Demeure du Chaos, Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d'Or, Rhône (69)
Emmanuel Arredondo in Varennes Vauzelles, Nièvre (58)
Musée de la Luna Rossa (revisited), Caen, Calvados (14)
La Fontaine de Château-Chinon, Nièvre (58)