Jean Prosper Gilis, Gilis à Barras

 this picture and the next two

 courtesy of Art Insolite Amis

Jean Prosper Gilis (1907-1974) was a mason who lived in a small community in the south of France in the Bergerac area. In 1968, at age 61, he began transforming the garden around his house into kind of a garden of Eden, decorating it with brightly colored sculptures made of cement, manly depicting a variety of animals. 

Some sculptures represent personalities, like the famous French marshal le Clerc and general Charles de Gaulle, but it is obvious Gilis preferred to make sculptures of animals.

Gilis has been making these creations for some five, six years, and since he suffered from sciatica, he must have needed a lot of willpower and energy to pursue his creative activity. As he got sicker, he made his creations lying on a stretcher.

It appears that one of the statues, presumably depicting de Gaulle, in reality is a self-portrait of Gilis, which -because time was pressing- was mounted upon a torso of the general. This must have been the last sculpture Gilis made (This information by Jean-François Maurice on the weblog of Jean-Michel Chesné, see below in the documentation).

Jean Prosper Gillis died in 1974. In 2010, when this post was first published, the garden still existed, but it was clear that the sculptures gradually were loosing their colours and that the seasons had taken their toll.

picture of the garden (summer 2010) 
courtesy of Sophie Lepetit, from her weblog

 

Madame Gilis had become too old to take care of the garden and there was no one around to help her. She probably has passed away meanwhile

The garden was a sweet, small monument reflecting former times, a testimonial to the creativity and perseverance of a modest man from a former generation, whose creations hardly anyone cares about today.

Developments from summer 2024

The editors of the website Tipeek Photos visited this art environment in July 2024. They found that it still existed and that some sculptures had been stolen. 

The sculpture of General Charles de Gaulle was still intact, although somewhat faded.

They visited Gillis' daughter and her husband, who live in Gillis' house, and took some sculptures with them to restore.

The image above shows a fox whose broken leg was repaired.

Documentation/more pictures

* Article (September 2024) on the website Tipeek Photos

* The weblog of Jean Michel Chesné  has two notes (here and here) with pictures of and information  about Gilis' life and works (October/November 2010)

* Pictures from a visit (2010) by Sophie Lepetit have been published on her weblog 

* The site got a review in:  Bruno Montpied, Le gazouillis des éléphants.  Editions du Sandre, 2017. 
* Entry on the website Habitants-Paysagistes (Lille Art Museum), with pictures of the sculptures

Jean Prosper Gilis

Gilis a Barras
47500 Bonaguil, dept Lot-et-Garonne, region Nouvelle Aquitaine, France

first published October 2010, last revised November 2024