Garden of Eden / Noah’s ArkCamille Vidal (1894-1977)

Although not much is known about Vidal’s early life, it is known that he lived in Béziers in the south of France, where he was a mason and also worked with cement. After his retirement in 1955, he moved to nearby Agde and began building figurative sculptures out of reinforced concrete that he installed in the garden around his home. It is estimated that he created some 150 figures, including apocryphal characters like Adam and Eve; world leaders, including Winston Churchill; and famous performers, including Jayne Mansfield, Georges Clemenceau, and Fernandel. Unidentified figures, including swimmers, and dogs, were also part of his oeuvre. Many works are humorous, reflecting, it is said, the spirit of their creator, and many were identified with inscriptions on their bodies, like a comic strip.

After Vidal’s death in 1977, the house was sold, and as the new owners were not interested in maintaining the sculptures on site, all were threatened. However, Alain Bourbonnais, director of the Fabuloserie Museum in Dicy, France, was able to purchase 54 works for the museum, and in 1982 installed the works up north. (At the last moment the neighbors and the city of Agde expressed some interest in acquiring the sculptures, but expected them to be donated, rather than purchasing them. In order for the loaded truck to leave, Bourbonnais had to show the official documents proving that he had purchased the sculptures.)

The original site is no longer extant, but almost one-third of Vidal’s works may be viewed at the Fabuloserie museum during the museum’s open hours.

~Henk van Es

13 Boulevard du Soleil
Agde, Languedoc-Roussillon, 34300 fr
Latitude/Longitude: 43.3091086 / 3.4765089

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