Jean Linard, Comment la cathédrale de Jean Linard a été sauvée / How Jean Linard's Cathedral was saved

pictures (May 2014) courtesy of Raija Kallioinen

 

Unite to save

This article describes the activities that after the death of Jean Linard (1931-2012) took place to preserve his creation for the future. For a description of Linard's life and work, see Wikipedia 

Activities to save Jean Linard's Cathédrale after it's creator had died

End January 2012 in accordance with the Linard family, a group of 43 artists, art critics, curators, art collectors and writers about art has signed a petition, adressed to the French minister of culture, asking to do what is in her power -cooperating with regional and local authorities- to keep the site open for the public, protect and save Linard's creation and promote that the complex becomes a cultural center. 

Of course, France has more art environments that deserve to be saved for the future. One of the three most important sites in France, les Rochers sculptés by Abbé Fouré. even hasn't a protected status, and then you have the sites of Chomo, Gabriel Albert and Bodan Litnianski that need attention, not to mention other less known sites.

However, it could be that Linard's art environment precisely has the connotation and circumstances that may lead to actions by public officials, which not only are relevant for this site, but also for other ones.

Maybe this is the moment. So, that's why this post is subtitled "unite to save".

Activities in 2012 and following years

Mid-march 2012 the minister of culture has reacted by paying a visit to the site and expressing a positive attitude towards measures promoting the survival of the site.

At first a committee was formed, with members of the Linard family and representatives of local and regional public bodies. A poster summarized the activities foreseen for the summer of 2012. In July and August the site would be open for visits by the public, there would  be shows, live concerts and meetings with artists.

And there would be lectures and bookshops about art environments in France in general.

The association "Autour de la cathédrale Jean Linard" 

In the course of 2012 the association Autour de la cathédrale Jean Linard was established to organize activities related to the maintenance of the site (done by volunteers), the reception of visitors, the publicity, the organization of various discussions, meetings and events and -last but not least- the preparation of a plan for the future of the site.

In the same year 2012, on July 16, the site was officially declared to be a Monument Historique

In 2013 the site was open during the summer, which was continued in the following years. 

In 2019, 8,000 visitors visited Linard's art environment. 

All those years regular maintenance was carried out by volunteers and all kinds of meetings took place.

2019: a plan for the future management of the site

A plan was also developed for the future management of the site via what in France is called a SCIC (Société coopérative d’intérêt collectif), the formation of a cooperative of involved people who purchase shares to raise the capital to buy the site.

In November 2019 the association discussed this plan with the heirs, also asking for a period of three years to realise their plan to form a cooperative. The association had three proposals to continue the management of the site: a free rental, a lease-sale, an emphyteutic lease (a type of real estate contract used in France that includes that the lessee must improve the property).

However, the heirs in majority did not accept the plan. This meant that in summer 2020 the site didn't reopen.

2020: The site reported as unsafe for visitors

In October 2020 the regional newspaper Le Berry reported that in the course of 2020 an official safety committee had visited the site and had concluded that the safety conditions for welcoming the public were not met and that the site presented a danger. 

The heirs then turned to the local, departmental and regional authorities with an urgent appeal to make the site public property and to arrange the exploration as it exists for Maison Picassiette or Cheval's Palais Idéal. It is not clear if and how the authorities reacted.

November 2021 The association has been dissolved

In November 2021, the association reported that it had decided to dissolve the organization for lack of any prospects.

July 2022: new owners

At the beginning of July 2022, the regional press reported that the Cathédrale had been bought by Charlotte Coller and William Rouger. Charlotte is from Achères, a community very close to the site. Charlotte and William worked in Paris as pastry chefs, jobs they have now left behind to bring the cathedral back to life.

The couple had work carried out to ensure the safety of visitors to the site, hoping to be able to receive the public again. And indeed, the site officially reopened on July 14, 2022 (national holiday Quatorze Juillet).

In 2024 the site was open for visitors from March 30. There is a new website available, with info about opening hours etc.

Links

* A link to Facebook (february 2012), with the background (in English) of the campaign to save the site 

* A new website "La cathédrale de Jean Linard" (launched May 2012)
* Video (published September 2014) by the direction de l'inventaire du patrimoine de la region Centre (Heritage board of the Centre region), with views from the air of the site
* Article (December 2018) in regional journal le Berry Républicain about the plan to form a cooperation
* Article (December 2019) in regional journal le Berry Républicain about the rejection of the plan by the heirs

* Article (October 2020) in regional journal le Berry Républicain about the appeal of the heirs to the authorities

* Article (July 2022) on website France Bleu Berry about the sale to the new owners

first published January 2012, last revised April 2024

Jean Linard
la Cathédrale
18250 Neuvy-deux-clochers, dept Cher, region Centre-Val de Loire, France

Giacomo Rebecchi, Il giardino delle ventole / The garden of fans

pictures courtesy of Cristina Calicelli

A garden in Italy with a lot of poles bearing colorful devices, that can rotate in the wind: ventole in Italian, fans or, my favourite, whirligigs in English.

Life and work

This art environment, located in the Lombardian community of Cremona, Italy, is a creation by Giacomo Rebecchi (born 1932).

Rebecchi had a job as a machinist with the Italian railways and when in the 1980s he got retired, he began constructing mobiles, using wheels of discarded bicycles and all kinds of recycled material, which he painted in bright colours.

 

In January 2012, when this article was first published,  the garden all together had some fifty poles with these colorful mobiles and constructions on top. A number of the creations have been dedicated to members of Rebecchi's family.

Almost twelve years later, in December 2023 the garden is still maintained by Rebecchi, who is now 91 years old.

Documentation

* Article in the website Costruttori di Babele

* Article (December 2023) on the new French website Tipeek Photos

first published January 2012, last revised July 2024

Giacomo Rebecchi

Il giardino delle ventole

Via dei Ferrovieri Caduti 7

26100 Cremona, Lombardia, Italy

can be seen from the street

streetview

Markus Meurer, Künstlerhaus in Monreal / Monreal Artist's House

 pictures courtesy of Haus Nieting

above picture (2006) by Charles Filet

The text in the image above, added to the fence of a house in Monreal, Germany, reads "Kunst aus Artenvilfärtiger Materie" (Art made from species-rich matter) ¹. 

Monreal, a small centuries old picturesque community of less then a thousand inhabitants in Germany's Eiffel area,  has a castle in ruins on a hill, the Löwenburg (Lion Castle).

Life and work

Located at the foot of that hill a house through the years has developed into an art environment. In 1911 it was bought by grandfather Meurer. His son Fritz Meurer (1932-2003) lived there all his life. In 1959 Markus Meurer was born, and he lived there until he had to quit in 2006.

It so happened that in this house, from 1959 on, for a number of years three generations Meurer lived together.

It was an artistic, creative family. Markus' grandfather told him stories about worldly adventures and technical inventions. His father, Fritz Meurer, an autodidact sculptor and visual artist, teached him working with wire, metal and stone. 

picture (2004) by Charles Filet

The interior of the house has been abundantly decorated by Markus Meurer: paintings on the ceilings and on the walls, lots of sculptures, all kinds of bric à brac, all together producing kind of a Gesamtkunstwerk.

In the same way the exterior has been equipped with a variety of constructions and decorative items.

picture (2006) Peter Nieting

paintings on the ceiling

The house and its exterior have become known as the Künstlerhaus in Monreal (Monreal Artist's House) and those interested in this art were welcome to pay a visit.

picture (2006) by Charles Filet

the inscription reads: "Thanks for visiting the art, 3M"
(3M = Markus Meurer Monreal)

After first his grandfather, and later (in 2002 and 2003) his parents had died, Markus Meurer, who meanwhile had developed into an outsider artist with a very personal signature, came under pressure of the local authorities to quit the house.

This he finally did in 2006 when he left for the United Kingdom, to live there with his English wife.

The local authorities declared the house unhabitable and demolished it in the autumn of 2007, despite protests from (inter)national gremia. Before the demolition took place, a group of Markus Meurer's friends removed all movable creative constructions, which nowadays are safely stored in a depot.

In 2008 Meurer and his wife returned to Germany, settling in Kevelaer in the west of Germany close to the border with the Netherlands. In mid-2021 the couple moved to Lühlerheim, a residence in a wooded area in Schermbeck, a small community about 45 km east of Kevelaer. Here Meurer continued making his creations.

Markus Meurer's art

Using wires, metal, all kinds of thrown away materials and objects, whatever, he creates assemblages and constructs, depicting fascinating insects, animals, mobiles and structures.

The picture below shows -as an example- a spider created in 2015.

this picture and the next three 

from the weblog atelier markus meurer

In 2014 Meurer once more focused on decorating part of the house where he lived by adding a large scale painting to the walls of the roof terrace.

 On its left side the painting depicts the hill in Monreal with the Löwenburg.

The side view shows the parental house at the foot of the hill.

photo by Markus van Offern

In his own way Meurer also decorated the interior of the house.

Expositions

In the course of 2016 Meurer got his own cabinet in the permanent exposition of the dr Guislain Museum in Gent, Belgium.

He participated in various other expositions, such as: Kunsthaus Kannen in Münster, Germany (various expo's from 2007 on), Outsider Art House in Veenhuizen Netherlands (2009), the Verbeke Foundation (Back Yard Genius) in Antwerp, Belgium (2010) and INSITA Triennial of naive art, art brut and outsider art in Bratislava, Slovakia (2010).

picture (2012) courtesy of Peter Nieting

(paintings in the background made by Laan Irodjojo)

But also the Art Brut Biennale 2012 (Hengelo, Netherlands) (picture above), the Galerie Art Cru, Berlin, solo exposition, 4/4-28/5 2014, the exhibition Sous le vent de l'art brut-2 (showing works from the dutch collection of outsider art De Stadshof) in the Halle Saint Pierre in Paris (September 2014 -January 2015).

Wikipedia has a complete list of expositions  (1986-2024).

Documentation
* From February 2014 on a weblog (in German), edited by Peter Nieting, documents Markus Meurer's career, listing his exhibitions and articles that have been published about him and his creations.
* Website of Markus Meurer's agent, Haus Nieting (in English); the link leads to a page with a large number of images of Meurer's house in Monreal
* Webpage of the Stadshof Collection (Netherlands)

note
¹ "artenvilfältig" is an expression coined by Markus Meurer, which means something like "diversity of species" and indicates the different materials he uses to make his objects

first published January 2012, last revised July 2024

Markus Meurer (and his father and grandfather)
Künstlerhaus
Monreal. Rhineland Palatinate Federal State, Germany
site demolished in 2007