Francis Barale, Maison des poupées / Doll house

 picture (around 2007) newspaper La Provence

Just outside the community of Gardanne on the road (D7) to Luynes in the Provence area of France, one could drive past a house with a decorated facade. 

Life and works

Francis Barale (1932-2017) was the author of this project. A local Gardanne magazine from early 1998 (on page 7) has the story, reporting that Barale at that time was retired and had over twenty grandchildren. In 1998 he was 66 years old.

Barale has been a gardener and he has worked in a touristic pottery shop in Valabre, making and selling tiles and other tourist items. He told the local journal he felt "attached to things", and didn't like throwing away objects.

So in the garden of his house he made kind of an exposition of many objects, mainly children's toys, and he abundantly decorated the facade of the house with dolls, in this way producing quite decorative scenes, as next pictures show.

this picture and the next one (February 2005) 

courtesy of legeckodusoir, Flickr

Francis Barale told the journal: "When my grandchildren do not use their toys any more, I ask them to give them to me, and when they visit me, they enjoy themselves (---). It gives them pleasure to see them there, exposed"

As far as I understand, in March 2011 the dolls and other objects have been removed (see documentation) 

Francis Barale died on September 30, 2017, 85 years old..

Documentation
* pictures (November 2010) on weblog  photopus13, with a variety of photos
* post in weblog Animula Vagula (August 2009), with pictures and comment (April 2011) saying that the dolls have been removed

Francis Barale
Maison des poupées
Gardanne, dept Bouches-du-Rhône, region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
streetview (as it was in 2008)

Matti Lepistö, Sculpture garden

pictures courtesy of Matti Lepistö

 

Raahe is a historic city in Finland, located along the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. The city's touristic website boasts its well preserved 19th century wood-built character. 

Life and works

Matti Lepistö (1948-2020), who lived in Raahe, saw himself as a self-taught artist. All his life he was interested in visual art and as a youngster he made wooden sculptures and  drawings. However, to earn a living. he went to work as a machinist in a metal factory.

He had this job for some twenty four years, until in 1991 he decided to leave it and to devote his life to creative activities. According to him, it was an unavoidable choice.

Lepistö since then has been making a lot of sculptures, using a technique he had developed himself. It's done by applying layers of a mixture of white concrete and white quartz mortar on a pre-modeled frame of iron and gaze. The creations are finished with an appropriate paint in an appropriate colour.

The way he described this method of working, suggests that everyone could work this way, but although the technique may be a basic element, a creative talent is needed to make sculptures as Lepistö did.

Matti Lepistö has been quite productive, making small and big, rather naturalistic sculptures of all kinds of persons and animals,  but also more symbolic works like big eggs from which new human or animal life appears.

A number of his works have been sold, but some 250 sculptures are exhibited in the garden around his house in Pattijoki in the outskirts of the city of Raahe.

Lepistö passed away on October 30, 2020 at age 72. He legated his sculpture garden to the city of Raahe, but the authorities still have to decide if they will accept this donation. 

Actual situation in 2022

Currently the garden is cared for Lepistö's brothers Esko, Seppo and Eero. The maintenance of the sculptures requires a lot of energy and also costs money, for example because of the removal of the moss that starts to grow on the sculptures. With a number of visitors approaching a thousand per summer, money is only available to a limited extent.

In 2022, the site hit the headlines because of a movie that was shot at the location of the sculptures.

Documentation, more pictures
* note and pictures on website  ITE-taide
* series of pictures on Facebook (2015)
* a series of photos (2018) by Sophie Lepetit in an album on Facebook

* an article in newspaper Raahenseutu reporting Lepisto's death

Video
* Video (September 2022) by Middle of Nowhere on their Facebook page

first published July 2011, last revised June 2023

Matti Lepistö
Sculpture garden
Mansikkakarintie 200
Pattijoki
92140 Raahe, Northern Ostrobothnia, Northern Finland
streetview

Hubert Bastouil, Sculpture garden

pictures courtesy of Bruno Druille

 

As far as I know this outsider environment in the south of France has no special name, so I just refer to it as sculpture garden. It is characterized by a large number of animals, constructed by applying concrete to a model of iron gauze.

Life and works

This sculpture garden was created by Hubert Bastouil (1932-2022). Born in a family of farmers in Saint Martin Lalande, he at first had a job as a farmer, but when he was around age 27 he went to work in a metalworking company.

He showed a lot of technical insight and was able to improve the company's machinery in such a way that production could proceed much faster.

At age 40 Bastouil began his own company in metal products, especially windows. He managed this firm together with his wife Georgette. When in later years, because of health problems,  Bastouil had to restrict his activities, Mrs Bastouil would continue managing the company.

All this years, Bastouil with his outspoken technical talent, did not show any urge to make artistic creations.

This changed however when mrs Bastouil thought it would be fine to decorate the garden with kind of a rock. Bastouil, who meanwhile had retired, tried to make one from concrete, to experience that his way of working was not so successful.

A garden with a zoo of sculpted animals

Then, when visiting the zoo in the Bois de Vincennes in Paris, he discovered that by applying layers of cement mixed with fiber on a model of iron gauze, one could make voluminous constructions.

Starting around 1997 it became his passion to construct life-sized sculptures of all kinds of animals.

The garden around the house meanwhile has an extensive collection, including a rhinoceros, a crocodile, elephants, deer, giraffes and so on....a complete zoo...

 

All together Bastouil has created some fifty life sized sculptures, the heaviest weighing some 800 kilo's.

The creations are rather naturalistic, both in appearance and in the way they have been painted. It has been reported that Bastouil uses images of animals in children's books as a model.

As far as possible and by appointment, the couple will welcome visitors.

Notre-Dame de Bassens

From the 12th century on the sanctuary of Notre-Dame de Bassens is a spot of pilgrimage, located in the fields north of Saint Martin Lalande. Working for three years with a group of friends and using the same technique he applied for the creation of the sculptures, Bastouil has constructed on this spot a Lourdes grotto  (from 2000 until 2002).

 

Hubert Bastouil passed away on October 10, 2022 at age 90.

Documentation, more pictures
* Article in regional newspaper Couleur Lauragais, nr 123, June 2010
* Weblog Bruno se lance, with pictures of the sculpture garden and the Notre-Dame de Bassens
* Articles with a lot of pictures in weblog De l'art improbable aux jardins insolites (January 2014) and weblog Les grigris de Sophie (May 2014)

first published July 2011, revised August 2023

Hubert Bastouil
Sculpture garden
Route ancienne 113
11400 Saint Martin Lalande, dept Aude, region Occitanie, France
visits only on appointment
streetview

Jean Billon, Maison entourée de sculptures / House surrounded by sculptures

pictures courtesy of Sophie Lepetit, from her weblog

In her weblog of April 30, 2011, Sophie Lepetit wrote about her visit to Jean Billon, living in Beauvoir-sur-Mer in the Vendee area in France. The some 3000 wooden sculptures Billon made since he became retired in 1992, have transformed exterior and interior of his house into an art environment. The following post summarizes Sophie's observations (thanks Sophie!).

Life and works

Jean Billon (1930-2023) was born in Beauvoir in a farmers' family and at age seventeen he went to work as a farmhand in Fontenay-le-Comte. He had a variety of jobs, like coal cutter, factory sweeper and porter at a bank, and retired from work in 1992, to settle in the community of Beauvoir.

Both by chance and by desire he began making wooden sculptures, using pine and cypress, modelling the wood with a chain saw. It took him time to get grip on this instrument, because as he says "the chainsaw chops and I wanted to sculpt".

 

Jean Billon has made sculptures in various sizes, large ones like above mobile donkey (which was also available for a ride by young visitors), but also small ones, like owls, pigs, cats, turtles and so on. One of his largest sculptures is a 2.4 meter high ostrich. 

He also depicted all kinds of food and tools, and he produced a number of books, some of these relating personal experiences like a surgery he underwent 

Since Jean Billon had a shoulder prosthesis, handling the chainsaw gradually became problematic, so later in life he was happy to be surrounded by his "children" and he liked to welcome passersby who stopped to take a look at the sculpture garden.

Jean Billon passed away on July 15, 2023 at age 93.

In a comment on this post dated August 2023, it is noted that all creations that lined the front of the house, have been removed. 

Documentation

* On website OEE-texts in agreement with Sophie Lepetit a translation into English of her article about Billon has been published  

* Another article (August 12, 2011)  by Sophie Lepetit with new pictures, also of the wooden books

* Article about the site by Sonia Terhzaz on her website Cartographie des Rocamberlus (environments d'art singulier), reporting the visit she paid in April 2017.

first published July 2011, last revised October 2023 

Jean Billon

House surrounded by sculptures

43 chemin du Puits de Riez

85230 Beauvoir-sur-Mer, dept Vendée, region Pays de la Loire, France

Charles Bird, Garden of ornaments

this picture (September 2008) 
courtesy of stowupland, Flickr

The picture above gives an impression of the Garden of ornaments in the community of Stowupland  (Suffolk area, United Kingdom) as it was in September 2008, just before it was demolished.

Life and works

Charles Bird (1933?-2006), who created this garden, made a career in the Royal Air Force.

The garden project probably came in full swing when Bird got retired, probably in the early 1990s.

The following pictures, made in the 1990s,  show that in these years the garden was abundantly decorated with all kinds of colourful items, including a display with US license plates.

this picture and the next two (made in the 1990s

courtesy of Katie Teague

 

This display also has a sign in which Bird pays tribute to his American connection. This refers to a number of friends he made in the United States when in the late 1950s he stayed there for some six months to attend a training course.

Garden ornaments such as water pumps and bird houses, were Charles Bird's favourite items.

He died in February 2006.

I suppose that after some time the house was sold. The new owners removed most of Bird's decorations. They may have thought that one water pump and one birdhouse would be enough.

Documentation
* Via private correspondence with Katie Teague, a member of Charles Bird's American connection I got some biographical data and a number of pictures.

* The internet has no documents that relate to the garden

first published: July 2011, last revised September 2016

Charles Bird

Garden of ornaments

Sycamore Road

Stowupland, Suffolk, East of England region, UK

the decorated garden doesn't exist anymore

Carlos Salazar Gutiérrez ("Salaguti"), Casa Museo / The house museum

picture (August 2009) courtesy of Victor Castelo, Flickr

Located in the community of Sasamón, near the city of Burgos in Spain, this singular architecture is a house to live in, a workshop and a museum, and it is rather special, isn't it?

Life and works

This building.was constructed single-handedly by Carlos Salazar Gutiérrez, born in Sasamón on July 12, 1944, who is also known as Salaguti.

As a young man he wanted to be an artist, notably a sculptor and a painter. In 1962 at age 18 he was admitted to the San Fernando School of Fine Arts in Madrid, but he was soon suspended and so he became a self-taught artist.

Salaguti made all kinds of sculptures which he sold to private collectors. but he also has made artistic constructions such as fountains and monuments for public places in Spanish communities,

Here is an example of a sculpture he made for a square, the Plaza Alonso Martinez, in Burgos:

picture courtesy of Beatriz Arreba

In the late 1970s, around 1977,  Salaguti began to construct a house, both with the intention to live and work there and to have a museum to expose his creations.

It became quite a special structure, characterized by a huge, some four meters high sculpted elf-portrait of the bearded artist, which is part of the outside wall. The two story building has various other special features, like a wall with all kind of faces which emerge in relief.

picture (August 2010) courtesy of Jroberto2005, Flickr

The house is located on a hill in a quiet rural area, some kilometers from the center of Sasamón and as far as I understand, when the artist is at home, visitors are welcome to come inside to see Salaguti's artwork.

Local authorities apparently are positive about this singular architecture. On Sasamón's official website the site is announced as one of the interesting places of the community to view.

Situation late 2021 

The picture above, made in October 2021 by Tiramisu Bootfighter, who traveled through Spain in the context of his project La Valise, Galerie Ambulante, shows that the site at that time still was in good condition.

Documentation

* Salaguti's website
* Javier Hernando Carrasco,  "La escultura-museo de Salaguti (Sasamón, Burgos)", in: Juan Antonio Ramirez, red, Escultecturas margivagantes: la arquitectura fantástica en España,  Madrid (Siruela), 2006.
* Website The Great Learning with pictures of emerging faces

* Articles with a variety of photos on the weblg of Sophie Lepetit, May 26 2023 ( exterior) and May 27 2023 (interior) 

* Article (April 2023) on website Panibericana

Video

* Scenes of the site (2014), both of its exterior and is interior, on the North Spain trip video by Serflac (YouTube, starts at 1.10.47, cannot be embedded here)

* Video by Ruvalle Leon (YouTube, 2021, 4'56")

first published July 2011, last revised June 2023

Carlos Salazar Gutiérrez ("Salaguti")

Casa Museo
Carretera Citores del Paramo
09123 Sasamón, Burgos, Castilla y Leon, Spain
can be visited when the artist is at home

photos on Google Maps

A new book about art environments in France: Bruno Montpied, Éloge des jardins anarchiques / In praise of anarchic gardens

cover of the book

Early april 2011 a new book about art environments in France was presented:

Bruno Montpied, Éloge des jardins anarchiques.Montreuil-sur-Bois (Ed l'Insomniaque), 2011, -224 p, 17x24 xm, 250 ill, DVD 

Although this book was presented in conjunction with the premiere of the film Bricoleurs de paradis. Le Gazouillis des Èlèphants (2011, 52"), it doesn't parallel it. 

The book is a production on its own, with a series of monographs dealing in depth with some thirty art environments in France, including the ones shown in the movie, and it has a lot of documentary material about many more sites.

   

Bruno Montpied is known for his effort to give very precise descriptions of the creations, so this is a rather welcome contribution to the knowledge of the subject. 

The author has decided to focus upon what he calls spontaneous environments, broadly speaking the category which in France is referred to as works of les inspirés du bord des routes or habitants paysagistes. So it´s about artistic creations made by folk artists, farmers, artisans, laborers, in general ordinary people, active in and/or around their house. just like many of the art environments presented in this blog.

Of course, in France some well known sites like Cheval’s Palais Ideal, Picassiette’s house with mosaics and the sculpted rocks of Abbé Fouré are widely recognized and written about in various publications. But  Montpied’s merit is that his book also deals with sites that are relatively unknown to the general public or which up to now got little publicity.

The book comes with a DVD, which has the Bricoleurs movie, and in bonus an interview (2010) with Savine Faupin, who is head of the art brut department of the LaM museum in Lille. 

More bonuses on the DVD: the super 8 movies Montpied many years ago has made of the sites of Marcel Landreau (site has disappeared)  and Raymond Guitet (site in decay).