Par
Hervé Pavageau
Published on
Dec 19 2024 at 8:58 a.m.
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It has just exceeded 10,000 entries.
To this measured figure, another data is added, this one estimated.
Three weeks after its opening, 50,000 people visited the Animal Elegance exhibition by Michel Bassompierre in the streets of the town of Vertou.
“Never in the history of Vertou has an exhibition attracted so many people”
Sign that the cultural event is a real popular success.
“Never in the history of Vertou has an exhibition attracted so many people throughout the city. From my office, with a view of Place Saint-Martin, I observe the wonder and enthusiasm on the faces of young and old alike. Our traders are delighted with this success,” says Rodolphe Amailland, mayor of a town which registered 1,500 people on the day of the inauguration.
“An exhibition that does good to people”
With their soft, round curves, the colossi attract and comfort. Don’t leave any stone unturned.
It’s an exhibition that makes people feel good. There is real enthusiasm.
Launched more than a month ago, the exhibition of the master of animal sculpture, the best-selling in the world, who works in the Nantes region, is a real popular success.
Since November 16, visitors have come every day and every evening to discover and contemplate the works of Michel Bassompierre.
Seventeen monumental sculptures pose in the streets : brown bears, gorillas, polar bears and emperor penguins at least 2 meters high, posed in different places in the city: Place Saint-Martin, Chaussée des Moines, the Cour et Jardin cultural space, Place du Beau Verger, Chaussée des Moines or near the Sèvre Nantaise.
His greatest work, the Larch, an imposing brown bear 6 meters high, sits near the Moulin Gautron.
35 works at the Moulin Gautron
Dressed up and transformed into a free ephemeral museum, the cultural site hosts 35 works in bronze, marble, alabaster…
The room even houses a Baccarat crystal tiger, hidden from sight in a black canvas case created for the occasion.
Before entering the room of masterpieces, the curious can immerse themselves in the work of the artist trained in Fine Arts, by exploring the recreated workshop.
The reconstruction allows you to discover the different phases of Michel Bassompierre’s process : from sketching to modeling, molding and foundry work.
Eight foundries (five are in France, the others are in Italy, Belgium and Spain) are now collaborating with the internationally renowned animal sculptor who works with an ecosystem of around fifty people.
A conference with WWF at the end of January
The exhibition, which also welcomes many schoolchildren, is expected to break other records.
Especially since one conference to raise awareness of the fragility of nature is scheduled for January 30, 2025.
Entitled “Sculpting the living”, it will take place at the Quatrain in Haute-Goulaine (price: €5, registration begins on 1is January).
As part of this meeting, Michel Bassompierre will be accompanied by Isabelle Autissier, navigator and honorary president of the WWF, partner of the exhibition, and François Sarano, oceanographer.
After Vertou, New York
The sculptor’s works can be seen until February 23.
After the commune of Vignoble Nantais, the monumental sculptures will leave in spring 2025 for New York, new space in which the expressive animals of Michel Bassompière will evolve.
Grand master in whose head there are not one but four people: L
The animal scientist, the anatomist, the designer and the sculptor.
Before adding: “But in the end, it’s always the sculptor who decides.”
Sculptor who shapes and cuts to freeze and glorify animal elegance.
The Animal Elegance exhibition by Michel Bassompierre, animal sculptor, can be seen in Vertou until February 23. Please note that during the Christmas holidays, the Moulin Gautron is open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Everything is free.
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