Here is a nice article about the sculpture garden of André Morvan, situated in the Morbihan area of Brittany, France.

This article, by Michel Leroux, has been published in the weblog of Sophie Lepetit of february 2011. It gives a good idea of the personality of the creator of the sculpture garden, and the author has related his experiences with mild irony.

I am happy mr Leroux gave me permission to republish a translation into english in this collection of texts.

The pictures in this article are courtesy of Sophie Lepetit

Michel Leroux,

“From Hell, I made a paradise”

Each year the thousands of tourists, coming from Auray and going to Quiberon, have a moment of astonishment when they cross the spot named Mont Salut.

Indeed, they are greeted, from each side of the road, by wooden animals and characters. Some tourists stop to take some pictures and then they quickly leave for the ocean ... this to the great despair of the daughter of the author of these 'sculptures', who, disappointed, remains behind in her Bar du Mont Salut.

It must be said that the welcome is not warm ... And then, what would these curious passersby learn about the inspired creator of this site? Nothing!

Indeed, André Morvan is not a chatterbox! No bla bla, he is at work!

So, what do we know about him? In the periodicals that specialize in folk art environments, one can read that he is called Morvandré ... and that his creations are located in the community of Ploërmel ...

André Morvan’s name indeed is André Morvan, and his constructs are located in the community of Ploemel, towards Plouharnel, and not in Ploërmel(which is located more than seventy kilometers away). You follow me?

Nowadays André Morvan is seventy eight years old. He has always lived in this place, where his parents already ran a small cafe and had a few cows. Atfourteen he had a training as an apprentice carpenter, then he became a master carpenter. A short time before he retired, he began to assemble stumps of dead trees, installing them around his house.

Initially he made animals. Portrayals of persons would come later.

A very interesting interview with André Morvan, conducted by Marc Décimo in the late nineties [1] , tells us much about how he started his creative activity and about his technique:

"I have always been used to work with wood ... I even have made some parts of the bar ... One day I was walking in the forest and I came across a tree that reminded me of a duck. I picked it up and using a hammer and a saw, I adapted it to give it an even more evocative form ... "

The parallel with the stumbling stone of facteur Cheval, is quite striking ... Like the latter, André Morvan would not stop creating any more !

"... I look around for those strains of oak and chestnut. After the storm of 1986, I picked up a lot of them. That keeps me busy! ... I will recover pieces of wood and I fix them with nails, to form animals and people. To conserve the wood that will eventually crack when it is exposed to the sun, I give it a coating with oil.. .”

His inspiration comes from daily life: "I am often guided by images in the newspapers…”

The photos by Sophie Lepetit, which go with this text, show these wooden assemblies, which represent imaginary animals, and of course the wonderful ensemble of musicians surrounded by dancers. Some 'sculptures' are more than three meters high.

The best time to fully enjoy this beautiful folk art environment is at the end of the day [2] , when the breton sun, like a floodlight, illuminates these musicians and dancers. Having a beer on the terrace, adjacent to the bar, and listening to the orchestra of the wind becomes a rare moment!

Just as rare as that evening when I came along Andre Morvan, who was at work, but hadn’t noticed me. He was trying to put a thin sheet of white plasticin the crotch of one of his dancers, a white piece of plastic serving as panties ... The scene was very funny, but I knew that if I made any movement totake a photo, Andre Morvan would have noticed my presence and would have left hurriedly, leaving the dancer in Eve’s costume. ... And only on the moment he wanted to put a panty on a second dancer, he noticed my presence. A quick greeting with a hand gesture and then he assembled hammers and nails, and went away....

Andre Morvan is a taciturn, so let’s give him the last word:

"Earlier this place was called ‘Hell’. I made it a paradise . A paradise of wood, that's something different than megaliths"

Notes

[1] The various quotes of Andre Morvan, which enrich the text, have been extracted from the book of Marc Décimo, Les jardins de l’Art Brut, (Ed Les presses du réel, 2007)

[2] A warning to lovers of folk art environments: if the bar is closed, do not attempt to climb the slope to take your picture. You could have an icy reception! (Some fans have had a bad experience ...)

(Addendum. Mr Leroux informed me in a personal correspondence that mr Morvan's daughter, who runs the café, is of the opinion that people who take photo's of the site, do this to make a profit. She feels this is to the disadvantage of the earnings of the bar. Mr Morvan himself is glad to see visitors coming along. I would suggest that you take a drink on the terrace or in the bar before making any pictures. HenkvE)