La Cathédrale [The Cathedral]Jean Linard (1931-2010)

Status

Extant

Address

Neuvy-Deux-Clochers, Centre, 18250, France

Built

begun 1983

Visiting Information

Linard’s Cathédrale is open between April and May; check their website for special events.

 

About the Artist/Site

It was after 1983 that Jean Linard, printmaker and then professional ceramist, began the construction of his masterpiece, the Cathédrale. It was formed by a series of grand brick arches and triangles dressed in ceramic mosaic placed around his home, which was a traditional French-style cottage farmhouse in the style of Berry. Linard constructed the home himself with recycled materials in the hollow of an old flint quarry in the middle of a forest near Bourges. This Cathédrale, “the highest in the world, because the sky is its roof,” became a place of meeting and reconciliation among all spiritual traditions. It also pays homage, among others, to South African resister and statesman Nelson Mandela, Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, the postman and art environment builder Ferdinand Cheval, and French poet Jacques Prévert. The site serves to open a dialog between the works of humankind and nature, permitting each of these two elements to nourish each other. In 2012 the Cathédrale was entered into the supplemental inventory of French historical monuments.

Among its important components are the exhibition space for Linard’s ceramic sculptures and the forest amphitheater; the site also serves as a center for a variety of cultural and artistic performances and events during the summer season. In the nearby village of La Borne is a center of contemporary ceramics, also worth visiting.

Linard’s Cathédrale is open between April and May; check their website for special events.

~Sophie Lepetit and Laurent Danchin

Translated by Jo Farb Hernández

 

 

Map & Site Information


Neuvy-Deux-Clochers, Centre, 18250 fr
Latitude/Longitude: 47.277909 / 2.698899

Nearby Environments

La Fabuloserie Museum

Dicy, Bourgogne Franche-Comté

La petite Afrique [Little Africa]

Pithiviers, Centre-Val de Loire

Arbres de lumière (Trees of Light)

Brannay, Bourgogne Franche-Comté

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