La Maison Sculptée [The Sculpted House]Jacques Lucas (b. 1944)

Lucas began to paint at the age of 19, and then decided to pursue studies in Art History. Although he never formally studied painting or any other plastic arts, he did exhibit his work several times as early as 1963. After receiving his  art history diploma, he worked for ten years in the French Ministry of Cultural Affairs.

In around 1968 Lucas and his wife Marie-France acquired an old grouping of buildings, almost in ruins, which had not been occupied for several decades; they were located about thirty kilometers east of Rennes in the northwest of France. It took about a year of heavy work to make the buildings habitable. Having made the acquaintance of artist Robert Tatin, who he visited several times a year in his home in la Frénouse, Lucas was inspired to begin sculpting. He also returned to his earlier painting and began printmaking as well, and began to paint on the walls of the buildings as well as to install his early sculptures, some of which measure seven meters in height, around the house. He even began interlacing his plastic works with trees, vines, moss, and other plants that he found locally, developing a living work of art. The built structures, which also included media such as ceramics and glass, measured roughly 2000 square meters in size, located on the property of around one hectare. He clearly references the Abbé Fouré, Ferdinand Cheval, and Robert Tatin as inspirations for his work.

Every fall Lucas would show a grouping of his sculptures; he was most active during the period 1983-1986, and even today three-quarters of the visible works were created during that period. In 1987, Lucas developed a glass art business, which interrupted his work at Essart. He left the site temporarily, moving to a painting studio in Nice, although he would return to Bretagne two or three times annually. By the end of the 1990s, having fallen behind on his taxes, the site was in danger of being sold. However, in 2000 a group of friends formed an association in order to save the site, formally classifying it as artwork and thus worthy of protection under a French law passed in 1957. In November 2003 the association purchased the site of La Maison Sculptée, enabling Lucas to continue to work on his buildings and sculptures on site, for he returned full time to Bretagne at the end of 2008. Lucas and the friends association would also like to have this site become a center of art creation for other artists who would work in residence and then exhibit their work; they are hoping to raise sufficient funds to realize these objectives.

Visits to La Maison Sculptée are encouraged, although prior contact with the artist is suggested. GPS : N 47 58.914 W 1 30.323

~Jo Farb Hernández, 2014

Jo Farb Hernández

Lessard
Amanlis, Brittany, 35150 fr
Latitude/Longitude: 47.9806359 / -1.5045686

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