Hidden Sculpture Casting Factory in French Neighborhood
Walking through what seemed to be a residential area in Paris, we happened to glance over and see a bunch of half finished looking sculpture piled up in front of the entrance to what we thought was someone's home. Amanda was so intrigued that she immediately pounced over to the door and peeked inside. Of course, that freaked me out a little bit because neither of us really speaks French, and this didn't look like a public kind of place.
Inside there was a very nice woman, who managed to figure out that we were tourists and she invited us in to have a look. It turned out that they were a small factory and specialized in casting all kinds of sculpture. We fumbled our way through asking her if we could have a look around, and she humored us. These are some of the photos that we took while invading their workplace!
When we first entered the studio, we came across this room with several people working on various projects. Please forgive the quality of some of these photos; the entire place was pretty dark so the camera overcompensated a bit. Some rooms were worse than others! I'm always amazed when I go into an art studio where people are creating things and they have such terrible lighting to work under. Maybe it's an artist thing?
There were several rooms where they were actively working on things. At first, we thought that it was extent of the building but boy were we in for a surprise after walking past this room.
Behind the next door, we found ourselves in a labyrinth of smaller rooms full of tables and shelves with artwork stacked from the floor to the ceiling. I think Amanda was going to have an aneurysm!
And now for a long series of images that speak for themselves. This place has so many nooks and crannies! The images are of varying quality as some of them were taken with a point and shoot camera and the rest were taken with a Canon 7D.
So it was time to move on. We were pretty grateful that the owner of the factory allowed us to explore it. I think it was kind of a unique experience as it appeared to be privately owned and I don't think many outsiders have ever seen the inside! So suppose this photo series may be sort of unique on the internet.
Sadly I have no idea what the name of this place is. It may have been written on a plaque somewhere, but honestly I wouldn't have known it if it were right in front of me being that I don't speak French!
Thanks for the exclusive tour! Many impressions and many sculptures! How nice that the people let you in, that doesn't happen so often. So you are such a backyard sniffer and explorer. I like that very much. I love backyards and rotten corners. The beautiful and the ugly must often be next to each other, so that one becomes attentive by the difference to a beauty. I found the collection a little overloaded and the theme repeats itself very often. It suggests that the buyers have large gardens and feudal taste. A little less mass would have been even more interesting. I know this is high level criticism. But not at you, but at the art produced there. After all, you can be happy to find any handiwork at all.
Such explorations always make me a bit melancholic, because I think that life and work belong together. The old cities of Europe and the small towns make something like that much clearer when you look at a market, with real stands and real people. In any case, people worked in the old streets below and lived above or behind. Craftsmanship is pretty much extinct in my modern world. That's a pity. But I don't want to cry too much. There are still some treasures to discover.
I think you have made a pretty good assessment, @erh.germany. I couldn't really ascertain what the purpose was for these sculptures. Were they mean to be sold cheaply? Were they garden ornaments? I have no idea. There definitely seemed to be some multiple orders in there. We came across rows and rows of identical items such as the mini statue of liberty. Not really my cup of tea, but interesting all the same.
And yes, it is so true that you need the contrast of beauty with ugly in order to appreciate the latter. But such is the nature of existance, isn't it? As humans, contrast is quite literally the only way that we can perceive anything at all.
Also I am with you on the melancholic feelings. It is as if I am in a constant state of melancholy these days when I have to contend with what passes as quality these days. Especially since we work in the entertainment/toy industry. We are constantly fighting with clients who just really can't see the difference between good and absolute rubbish!
Thank you, @nuthman.
Yes, the concept of contrast is quite fascinating. I often find examples in my daily life and I could craft a world around it:)
I worked for a relevant amount of time in the PR-business. Quality is often sacrificed for the sake of fast business. But lucky me was able to act a little outside the ordinary and had the pleasure of introduce PR-concepts to our clients that they actually liked. I did some fine works with artists and craftsmen who cooperated with the brands I worked for. I think people often underestimate their influence. When one truly loves what he does work and life become so much more fruitful.
... Oh, I would also like to greet you on my blog. If you have time available, please come visit me. ;)
You could have photographed the plaque / business sign and then we'd all know its name and could have looked it up. 8P
That was a real treasure the two of you stumbled upon. Some of those photos of the plaster casts would make great drawing exercises.
haha! I was waiting for someone to point that out. Yeah, I don't know why we didn't.
D'oh!
How cool and intriguing to be privy to this seemingly private factory. Some really beautiful sculptures. Must have been very exciting
Thanks for sharing @nuthman
Yeah, it was completely unexpected that we found this place. We could easily have just walked by, but my wife has eagle eyes. haha.
Beautiful statues, I bet some of them are bound for somebody's tomb at a the cemetery and even though they cast them they are doing beautiful work.
I thought that those are sculptures made from a single rock @nuthman
Thanks, @cryptopie. I got the feeling that they either scanned or copied famous sculptures around France and then made molds of them so that they can mass produce them for sale. But I am only guessing!
I would like one too made from my own image in front of my house.
But I don't think it would not look good. :/
Oh my goodness, I would have been in Heaven! I love the human form and animal and really these sort of structures.
I am obsessed with gardens and gardening and so many of these I'd love to have with ivy trailing on them or a bed of guara at their feet.
This was a lucky find and were you able to buy anything? Or did they just do the casting and such there?
Have you tried google translate ap? I wonder how it would work in applications like this?
This and an old antiquarian book store would be such a lovely way to wile away an afternoon.
Hello @donnadavisart, no we didn't buy anything. They didn't have any kind of storefront. It seemed like a little factory that produces sculptures for another company, but I have no idea.
We could have asked more questions, but my phone wasn't set up to work in France so I couldn't use google translate.
This is a amazing place, seemingly very cavernous - but not so unusual in a European city to find such in a residential neighborhood. My friend @kathleenscarboro (American, living in Paris) has her artist studio also in a residential neighborhood.
I'll be in Paris next month for a few days.
Your discovery makes me think of the times I visited my Serbian artist friends SNEZANA PETROVIC and SLAVKO KRUNIC in Novi Sad: they took me to the Petrovaradin Fortress, there are many artist studios situated in what may have formerly been dungeons.
If you check my Flickr album, starting at this photo and go forward there are a few interesting studios (the entire album has over 100 photos).
Novi Sad btw is a utterly charming little city. And Serbia is one of the most inexpensive places to visit in Europe.
It sound like you have had quite the adventurous life! Yeah, I noticed that these types of thing are more common in Europe in residential areas.
I actually kind of like it. It gives a sort of character to the neighborhood. I feel like things have become so sterile here in the US.
Thanks for the links! I look forward to looking through yours and the others work.
Hey Hello.
These are the perfect pictures you got from the sculpture workshop.
I really liked it. I like everything that smells art. It is very nice to share with us. thank you dear friend
@artizm thank you so much! I am the same as you. I'm always on the lookout for these kind of hidden places.
Nice. Many can visit France, but not everyone is lucky enough to get a unique tour of a statue-making company. Thanks for sharing your great photos with those of us who won't.
Thanks. It was a nice little side adventure!
Well I live in Paris and would love to visit the place. You have no idea where it is in the city?
It looks like the reproductions you can purchase at the Louvre. Maybe they fabricate them.
Yeah, I think you are right. I feel like we saw some of these at the Louvre.
I wish I could tell you what street it is. That was a couple of years ago and my memory is useless!
Nice picture great post brother
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Thanks a lot! I appreciate you taking the time to look at them.
Thx sir
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