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this image and the next one from Google Maps |
this picture and the next five from the weblog of Sophie Lepetit |
an inventory and documentary of art environments in Europe created by non-professionals
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this image and the next one from Google Maps |
this picture and the next five from the weblog of Sophie Lepetit |
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all photos (by Hubert Bouvet) published here in agreement with the Inventaire Générale région Hauts de France |
On the front of a house along the Rue Nationale in the commune of Sains-en-Gobelle in Northern France, about 40 km south-west of Lille, decorations can still be seen that refer to the years 1980/1999, when particularly in the backyard a special art environment was created,
The above red-colored ladybug with many white dots, is one of the first stand alone creations of an animal that Lemaire made.
Elsewhere in the garden are welded metal roosters, one formed from iron chains, the other from metal discs.
Using other metal items, like hubcaps from cars as shown in the image above, Lemaire also made decorations. This image was added to a wall of a shed at the edge of the garden.
The person with a hat is Subito, a cartoon character known in France, created in 1936 by the cartoonist Robert Velter (known as Bozz).
In the image above there is a small figure in the upper right that appears to reside in higher realms, (birds, space vehicles} and sends a lightning bolt to a structure of yellow and green stripes below.
Current situation
Robert Lemaire passed away on October 7, 2010
the Eiffel Tower as created in 1984 this picture and the next five courtesy of Gérard Brion |
The replica of the Eiffel Tower in the image above was made in 1984 by Gerard Brion when he was 14 years old. He made the vertical elements of the structure as such from wood and the connecting crossings from corrugated sheet metal.
Life and works
view of the Seine with partly Eiffel Tower |
Notre Dame |
Assemblée Nationale |
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a sculpture by Fernand Châtelain, courtesy of Marcello 13 (Flickr) |
Bonjour aux promeneurs, Hello walkers, |
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photos (around 1980) by A.S. Milovsky |
The creation in the image above is one of more than thirty scarecrows that in the 1970s/80s decorated a garden located in Vertlovo, a small village in the Yaroslavl region of Russia, about 250 km northeast of Moscow.
Life and works
This rather special art environment was created by Fedor Alexandrovich Zhiltsov (1900-1984), who was born into a peasant family in the village of Chukholza, near Vertlovo.
The photo below shows him in old age, sitting next to one of his creations, and looking at another.
Retired in 1960, Zhiltsov began making scarecrows, at first to scare birds away from his garden, but later mainly because of the satisfaction he got from making such creations. He made them freehand, without using any pattern or drawing, working elongated poles of ash wood with an axe, a saw and a knife as his only tools.
The scarecrows got a human appearance by providing them with a headgear, a face, red lips and the suggestion of an upper and lower body. His scarecrows had movable arms, one pointing upwards, the other downwards. Connected to an axis the arms could rotate, rising en felling alternately.
Zhiltsov's art environment got little publicity
In the early 1980s, Zhiltsov was interviewed by Alexander Sergejewitsj Milovsky, who prepared a book on Russian folk art, which was published in 1982 entitled Скачи, добрый единорог (Ride, Good Unicorn).
This probably is the only publication with a good description of the art environment and its creator. I would like to acknowledge that the text of this post is based upon the information in the article in Milovsky's book.
But then, in 2004, an article was published in a Yaroslav's newspaper, informing its readers about the creation of a museum dedicated to scarecrows. The article briefly mentions Fedor Zhiltsov and his art environment. It is reported that Zhiltsovs died in 1984 and that his house became neglected and empty, with a collapsed roof and a completely overgrown garden. It is also was stated that several scarecrows manufactured by Zhiltsov, came into the possession of relatives and neighbors.
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Milovsky's book |
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this image and the next two from website Moi Mir |
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this image and the next two from website Moi Mir |
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this image and the next one from website locals.md |