Maison de Sérusier
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison de Sérusier, located in Châteauneuf-du-Faou (Département 29), is a modern edifice built in the 19th-20th centuries. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Modern (19th-20th century)
- Location
- Châteauneuf-du-Faou, Département 29, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.1878, -3.8092
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00135263
The intimate sanctuary of a Nabi master, this Breton house contains a 17-metre painted frieze of cosmic and zodiac symbols, Paul Sérusier's secret masterpiece in the heart of Finistère.
History
In the heart of Châteauneuf-du-Faou, a village clinging to the meandering Aulne River in inland Finistère, stands a discreet mansion whose village appearance hints at nothing of the extraordinary treasure it houses. La Maison de Sérusier is above all an act of pictorial faith: that of a painter who, at the height of his artistic maturity, decided to transform his own house into a living manifesto of his aesthetic and spiritual convictions. What makes this place absolutely unique in France is the monumental frieze that Paul Sérusier painted directly onto the plaster in 1912, running 17 metres across the first-floor corridor and stairwell. Twenty-six square panels follow one another, interspersed with rigorous geometric bands, displaying an iconographic programme of rare ambition: the twelve signs of the Zodiac rub shoulders with the sun, planetary representations, religious motifs and sober still lifes. Together, they form a personal cosmogony, a kind of painted treatise on the universal laws governing beauty and harmony. The visitor's experience is that of an intimate and almost confidential discovery. You enter the private space of an artist who refused to separate his life from his work. Two figurative fireplaces, still in place, extend the pictorial meditation into the living rooms. Although the paintings that once adorned the bedrooms have since joined the collections of museums and collectors, their very absence gives the bare walls a melancholy, poetic presence. The setting adds to the enchantment: Châteauneuf-du-Faou is one of the hidden gems of deepest Brittany, a land of moors, forests and rivers that Sérusier loved to paint under golden and slate lights. For lovers of post-impressionist and symbolist art, this house is an essential pilgrimage, a point of convergence between the history of the Parisian avant-gardes and eternal Brittany.
Architecture
Maison de Sérusier is in the tradition of 19th-century Breton village architecture, sober and functional, with no particular ornamental motifs on the exterior facades. A large residence with a layout typical of the region's middle-class buildings, it is distinguished by its simple massing, rendered masonry walls and steeply pitched roof, typical of Finistère, which provides effective protection from the weather of inland Brittany. Nothing about its exterior betrays the wealth of the treasure it houses. It is inside that the architectural uniqueness of the building lies. The stairwell and corridor on the first floor form the heart of the work, transformed by Sérusier into a mural painting gallery of rare coherence and ambition. The frieze is 17 metres long and one metre high, divided into 26 square panels of figurative decoration separated and linked by bands of geometric motifs. This skilful rhythm, in which narrative images alternate with abstract ornamentation, reveals the influence of Beuron's theories on mathematical proportion applied to the decorative arts. Two figuratively decorated fireplaces, integrated into the reception rooms, complete the ornamental programme and testify to Sérusier's desire to turn the entire dwelling into a total work of art, halfway between an artist's house and a Symbolist sanctuary.
Related Figures
Paul Sérusier (1864-1927) — peintre nabi, théoricien, concepteur du décor et propriétaire de la maisonPaul Gauguin (1848-1903) — mentor de Sérusier lors de la leçon du Talisman à Pont-Aven en 1888Maurice Denis (1870-1943) — cofondateur des Nabis avec Sérusier, ami proche et complice artistiquePère Désidérius Lenz (1832-1928) — moine bénédictin, théoricien de l'école de Beuron, inspirateur des recherches de Sérusier sur les canons universels de la beautéPierre Bonnard (1867-1947) — membre du groupe Nabi, compagnon de route de Sérusier dans l'aventure symbolisteÉdouard Vuillard (1868-1940) — peintre nabi, proche de Sérusier dans les années parisiennes de formation du groupe
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison de Sérusier located?
Maison de Sérusier is located in Châteauneuf-du-Faou, Département 29 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Maison de Sérusier built?
Maison de Sérusier dates back to a period built in the modern era (19th-20th century).
Is Maison de Sérusier open to visitors?
Maison de Sérusier is currently closed to visitors.
