Robert Velter (1909-91), more popularly known as 'Rob-Vel', is the children's cartoonist most remembered as the creator of Spirou. He is buried in the Cimetiére de Lorette. The plaque below pays tribute to him, although another plaque on this grave has gone: formerly this was a grave with a cross, but it has since been replaced by a new one. As far as I know, this is the only published shot of the grave in its present state.
28 September 2019
François-René de Chateaubriand in Saint-Malo, Ille-et-Vilaine (35)
François-René de Chateaubriand's father René-Auguste came to Saint-Malo in the 1750s and made his money as a ship owner and slave trader. He married Apauline de Bédée and in 1768 the family moved to the Hôtel de La Gicquelais, Rue des Juifs, now Rue de Chateaubriand, where the son François-René was born on 4 September of that year. The first-floor windows show representations of François-René and Germaine (Madame de) Staël.
Opposite the casino is a statue of Chateaubriand,
who is obviously very big in Saint-Malo.
But I've no idea what occasioned this plaque of him in Saint-Servan, now a district of Saint-Malo, on the corner of Rue George V and Rue Ville Pépin.
27 September 2019
François-René de Chateaubriand on Grand Bé, Saint-Malo, Ille-et-Vilaine (35)
My next post will concern François-René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848) – recognised as a founder of romanticism in France – in Saint-Malo itself, although here I'm concerned with his death. He chose the spot for his burial himself, close to the place where he was born, and facing the ocean on the tiny island of Grand Bé. Even twenty-five years before his death (Bertrand Beyern tells us*) he worried about this, and struggled with the mairie in Saint-Malo along with the ministry of war which owned the land. This is not the original monument: the granite cross remains, but the railings were replaced in 1948 after war bombings had damaged the tomb. The nearby plaque reads:
'UN GRAND ÉCRIVAIN FRANÇAIS
A VOULU REPOSER ICI
POUR N'Y ENTENDRE
QUE LA MER ET LE VENT
PASSANT
RESPECTE SA DERNIÉRE VOLONTÉ'
Grand Bé becomes a peninsula at low tide, making it easily accessible to sightseers.
*Bertrand Beyern, Guide des tombes des hommes célèbres, 2008.
Boîte à lire, Saint-Servan, Saint-Malo, Ille-et-Vilaine (35)
This is rather different Boîte à lire, and I was delighted to find a copy of Jean-Philippe Toussaint's La Clé USB in it: it's part of this year's rentrée, and was only published this month (September 2019). The previous owner has pencilled 'idiot' on one of the title pages, although I don't know if the reader intends this as an adjective of noun, but I don't think they can be at all familiar with the writing of Toussaint!
Boîtes à lire:
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Boîte à Lire, Dicy, Nièvre
Boîte à lire, Maisons-Laffitte, Yvelines
Boîte à lire, Sorigny, Indre-et-Loire
Boîte à Lire, Jonzac, Charente-Maritime
Boîte à lire, La Roque-d'Anthéron, Bouches-du-Rhône
Boîte à Lire, Épineuil-le-Fleuriel, Cher
Boîte à lire, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône
Boîte à lire, East Markham, UK
Boîte à lire, La Folie Couvrechef, Caen, Calvados
Boîte à lire, Bergues, Nord
Boîte à lire, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime
Boîte à lire, Villerville, Calvados
Boîte à lire, Saint-Servan, Saint-Malo, Ille-et-Vilaine
Boîte à lire in Caen, Calvados
Boîte à Lire, Noyant d'Allier, Allier
Boîte à lire, Dampierre-en-Burly, Loiret
Boîte à lire, Illiers-Combray, Eure-et-Loir
Boîte à lire, Chartres, Eure-et-Loir
Boîte à lire, Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d'Or, Rhône
Boîtes à lire:
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Boîte à Lire, Dicy, Nièvre
Boîte à lire, Maisons-Laffitte, Yvelines
Boîte à lire, Sorigny, Indre-et-Loire
Boîte à Lire, Jonzac, Charente-Maritime
Boîte à lire, La Roque-d'Anthéron, Bouches-du-Rhône
Boîte à Lire, Épineuil-le-Fleuriel, Cher
Boîte à lire, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône
Boîte à lire, East Markham, UK
Boîte à lire, La Folie Couvrechef, Caen, Calvados
Boîte à lire, Bergues, Nord
Boîte à lire, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime
Boîte à lire, Villerville, Calvados
Boîte à lire, Saint-Servan, Saint-Malo, Ille-et-Vilaine
Boîte à lire in Caen, Calvados
Boîte à Lire, Noyant d'Allier, Allier
Boîte à lire, Dampierre-en-Burly, Loiret
Boîte à lire, Illiers-Combray, Eure-et-Loir
Boîte à lire, Chartres, Eure-et-Loir
Boîte à lire, Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d'Or, Rhône
26 September 2019
Théophile Briant, Rothéneuf, Ille-et-Vilaine (35)
Théophile Briant (1891-1956) is not to be confused with the union leader Théophile Briand, and the changed 'D' for the 'T' on his grave is clearly visible here. He spent his childhood in Fougères and later moved to Paris where he was friends with Colette, Jehan-Rictus and Max Jacob. In 1934 he left Paris for the Tour du Vent', a former windmill in Paramé. From there he promoted unknown poets and published hitherto unpublished works by such poets as Tristan Corbière and Gérard de Nerval. He founded the literary periodical Le Goéland, which promoted Breton culture and lasted 120 issues. He was also a friend of Céline and wrote biographies of Saint-Pol-Roux and Jehan-Rictus.
Le Moulin du Domaine, Saint-Jouan-des-Guérets, Ille-et-Vilaine (35)
Le Moulin du Domaine just outside the village of Saint-Jouan-des-Guérets, now in the centre of a traffic island close to a busy shopping centre, features on the 1834 land registry and was probably built in the late 18th century or the beginning of the 19th. In front of the mill then was a building also called 'Le Domaine' which was probably a farm. The mill tower is made of granite rubble with a slate roof and underwent several changes in the 20th century.
René Raoul's Jardin de pierre in Pléhédel, Côtes d'Armor (22)
This spritual, healing garden was created in 1984 by René Raout as an open air temple. He saw the garden as his sanctuary and was a self-taught sculptor. He sold the property in the 2010s and there are now cabins here accommodating tourists, known as Les Cabanes du jardin de pierre. I was interested to see Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi make his influence known again.
Art brut (Outsider Art) and associated:
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
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)
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)
Art brut (Outsider Art) and associated:
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
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)
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)
24 September 2019
Robert Tatin in Cossé-le-Vivien, Mayenne (53)
Robert Tatin (1902-83) was born in Laval and from 1913 to 1916 was an apprentice painter and decorator. Leaving for Paris two years later, he joined evening classes in Fine Arts. He regularly returned to Paris following his travels in Europe, north Africa and New York, where he stayed for six months. From 1946-50 he was a ceramicist in Paris, exploring painting and meeting Giacometti, Dubuffet, Caillaud, Prévert, Breton, etc. From 1950-55 he travelled through South America, and as a ceramicist gained a strong international reputation in Brazil, where he won first prize in the Biennial in Sao Paulo. For a time, on his return to France, he devoted his time to painting, regularly exhibiting in Paris.
In 1962 he bought La Frénouse, a house in Cossé-le-Vivien, Mayenne, and settled there with his wife Lise, whom he'd only met a short time before. Thus began the construction of his 'Maison des Champs', partly financed by the sale of his paintings. Minister of Culture André Malraux gave the title of 'Musée' to this space in 1969. From 1970 until his death in 1983 Tatin continued building with Lise, and at the same time sold many of his works.
My photos here follow the French guide leaflet to the musée, with my loose translation of it. L'Allée des géants (1967-81) is the intellectual path of Tatin's life from childhood through to the influences of his adulthood. Here there were twenty sculptures, although one (La Fleur) was destroyed by a lorry accidentally backing into it in 1978: Tatin had no wish to replace it, although I photograph the space. My first photo is from bottom to top, in other words from adult influences to childhood ones, although I list the statues from top to bottom here:
At the age of ten, Jeanne d'Arc and Vercingetorix were inspirations; the verbs Etre and Avoir and the choices they entail represent the end of Tatin's childhood as such; Sainte Anne and the Vierge de l’Épine are references to the mystical and the metaphysical concerns prolonging this period of adolescence with three classical questions: where do we come from?, what are we doing?, and where are we going? Le Maître Compagnon, evokes the path chosen by Robert Tatin: that of the builders of cathedrals and the quest for perfection; the second part of the allée belongs to artists of the 19th and 20th centuries who have left their mark on Tatin: André Breton, Le Douanier Rousseau, Gauguin, Seurat, Auguste Rodin, Léonor Fini, Alfred Jarry, Ubu Roi, Toulouse Lautrec, Suzanne Valadon and her son Utrillo, Pablo Picasso and Jules Verne.
La Porte des Géants represents five pillars in the history of art from Tatin's viewpoint. Here are Van Gogh, De Vinci, Goya and Delacroix. At the top, two snakes represent the ups and downs of life, in the centre the Wheel of Fortune.
The Dragon is the guardian of the musée, and of knowledge.
The house (where photography is forbidden) was virtually in ruin on Tatin's buying it in 1962, but completely restored and redecorated by Lise and Robert Tatin. At the time it was surrounded by agricultural land, hence the name 'Maison de Champs'. Tatin lived there for twenty-one years.
Le Jardin de Meditations is the heart of the museum. Around the pond are twelve sculptures representing the months of the year.
Tatin, following his wishes, was buried in front of his house, where a black cube marks his dates.
Art brut (Outsider Art) and associated:
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
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)
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)