Gabriel Albert, Le jardin sculpté/The sculptured garden

auto-portrait
pictures courtesy of Bernard Maingot

Life and works

As a boy Gabriel Albert (1904-2000) already wanted to be a sculptor.

But, as things went, the reality of life was different and he had to earn his living by labouring in different jobs, eventually being a carpenter.

Finally, at the age of 65, when he could enjoy his retirement, he could give way to his passion. He started sculpturing, using the technique of cement over an iron frame. All his works were displayed in the garden around his house in Nantillé, a community in the department Charente Maritime in south-west France.

For some twenty years, untill 1989, he went on making statues, all together creating 420 objects. He made statues of men and women, political personalities, famous people, angels and so on.

This picture gives an impression of the kind of work he made:

Before he died Gabriel Albert sold the whole collection for a symbolic amount to the community of Nantillé.

Saving the site

A group of friends of the garden for many years has been active in promoting that the garden would be saved for the future.

Eventually, in march 2012 it has been announced (Journal Sud Ouest) that the site in various ways will have a protected status: on the departmental level it has been added to the list of Monuments Historiques, the sculptures have been added to a national list and finally the site also has beeen added to a national list of historical monuments. In this way, depending upon further plans and decision-making, money could be allocated to maintain the site.

The group of friends has become a more formal Association des Amis du jardin de Gabriel,  in which the Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles DRAC (a regional cultural authority) will participate.

Untill now (early 2012), the garden is not open for the public, although occasionaly visits have been possible, for example during the Journée des Jardins when many (private) gardens in France are open for the general public (around end of may, beginning of june).

In the future public visits probably will be possible on a more regular basis.

Documentation
* The weblog of Bernard Maingot on life in Nantillé has many interesting photographs of an Open Day on June 1, 2008.
* The weblog Belvert of Michel Valière has a slidehow of the sculptures (first click on visualiser l' album, then click on diaporama).
* Fabrice Bonnifait, "Reconnaissance d'un site touristique en voie de patrimonialisation: le jardin de Gabriel à Nantillé", in Gilles Ferréol, red., Tourisme & Patrimoine, p 199-212, Bruxelles, 2010 (Ed E.M.E), 2010, 298 pages.(source: weblog de Belvert, in french)
* Le jardin de Gabriel. l'Univers poétique d'un créateur saintongeais, Geste Éditions, 2011, -104 p, ill 
* The Regional Council of Poitou Charentes is doing inventarisations of the cultural heritage of the regio, and in 2011 has completed and published on the internet an inventarisation of Gabriel Albert's works (in french). Following the link you will arrive on a webpage with a plan of the garden, an illustrated inventarisation of the sculptures, and a lot of factual information.

first published dec 2008, revised oct 2010, apr 2011, march 2012

Gabriel Albert
Le jardin sculpté
Hameau de "Chez Audebert"
17770 Nantillé FR
closed for the public