A SUNDAY IN A FRENCH COUNTRY PARK

juillet 16, 2012

Gianni tempted me with a modern sculture exhibition in the Foundation Courbertin gardens in Saint Remy-Les-Chevreuses. Getting me to take a surburban train to the outskirts of Paris can be a major task. Putting a little carrot in front of me makes it easier. The day seemed to show some signs of staying fine as I made my way to the RER - and got there as usual far too early. It’s a 40 minute trip out the Saint Remy and frankly amazing that within such a short time, woods, green (very green with this dreadful summer) and countryside is with us. Is it the UK? No. Not Australia, definitely not. The French countryside has another atmosphere about it. Perhaps there is not the same feeling of space as there is in the UK. It can’t be termed as «cosy» but it certainly does not have the gigantic features of the Australian bush - which I love so much.
I knew nothing about the Fondation and even less about the artist that we would be discovering. Denis Montfleur (1962). Marta Pan (1923-2008), I did know as she is one of the artists seen in Paris, in Versailles and many other regions in France or the world.

Marta Pan in Versailles

The question always asked «is this art or what?» when discovered in a public place.

The Coubertin family has kept the estate for over 400 years. It’s a beautiful stately home which is now for the Compagnonnage (traditional associations of craftsmen) for young people who want to learn this skill.

Its flexible and general curriculum allows craftsmen to fill the gaps they may have in their basic education, to acquire the skills they need to practice their craft and meet the demands of the modern world, and finally to enjoy broad and diverse cultural opportunities.
 

The Chateau

Conference area for students

Students living area

Marta Pan and Bourdelle's horse

There are 160 acres of park and we are now over 30 kilometres from Paris. The gardens are sculpture studded and as we arrived dead on opening time we enjoyed the solitude of the stretches of lawn, gardens and trees to be hugged before the crowds arrived. The Chateau is 300 years old so where the family Coubertin resided before that is another question.

Hug a tree

Looking back from the green pool of water

Gianni in front of the horse

Bourdelle ?

There are the permanent statues, Antoine Bourdelle, for instance. Had his horse been transferred from Maillol in Paris? I said to Gianni it is as big of not bigger than the 500 ton statue that was stolen years ago from the Henry Moore Foundation in Essex.

Not everything is immense and fortunately there is enough space around the statues for them to breathe. Marta Pan is more than I expected. Denis Montfleur, modern and «rough». Looking at the statues on Internet, Gianni was right to say that they looked a little like Baselitz. Seeing them in reality was quite another matter.

Baselitz

Denis Montfleur "Three Monumental Heads 2009-2011

One of the heads

D.M.

Touching Marta Pan’s three slit disks took me back to Bridport in Tasmania. That granite rock was as smooth as these.

The disks

Mara Pan "Three granite disks" 1981

Winston Churchill of course

Ducks in flight Jean Cardot 1993

Ducks - Jean Cardot

Ducks

However, what I really fell in love with was «Flight of savage Ducks» (1993) by Jean Cardot (1930). We Parisians know him for his statue of Winston Churchill or Charles de Gaulle but these ducks were magic. You could feel the flight of up and down. It was too muddy around the sculpture to touch the copper birds. How smooth they were and what magic.

And just a few more statues which are resident....